Trash to Treasure ~ DIY Candle Sconce
One of my favorite things to do is to go junkin’ and dumpster diving. Seriously, my eyes light up when I find a discarded gem on the side of the road. Repurposing and repainting are two of my favorite things. Scroll down to find out how I turned discarded shutters from the 50’s into a simple distressed candle sconce that I love!
A quick coat of paint and a little sanding gave these shutters a new life.
Creating a perfect backdrop for a wall candle sconce.
Simple, adorable and free…works for me!
I picked these shutters in the trash a while ago.
Not very pretty right now, but with a little paint and some love was all they needed.
Don’t you just see the potential?!
I did a minimal amount of sanding and then a quick sloppy undercoat of dark brown paint.
Thats my favorite part about a distressed look. No perfectionist painting required!
Your going for a weathered, I’ve been beaten up and used look. A piece that looked well loved.
Simple trick ~ How to achieve an easy distressed paint finish.
After the brown paint was dry, I used one of my favorite tricks for distressing. A candle!
By rubbing a candle across the areas that you want to distress, you can achieve a very realistic chippy painted piece.
The wax of the candle will make the distressing easy…plus there is no dust like when you sand. Two wins in my book!
Finally, paint a sloppy coat of white on top of the brown.
Now comes the fun part…use steel wool to scratch off the areas where you applied the candle.
Voila a perfectly distressed shutter.
The candle sconce was black iron when I started. I think I picked it up at the thrift store.
I dry brushed some blue paint and a then a little white right over the black iron.
Again I am going for an old “I’ve been around for years” look, so sloppy painting works!
Can you believe it…I found the mirror in the trash as well.
I am always amazed at what people throw out.
We giggle at our house about going treasure hunting in the alleys. The kids enjoy it almost as much as I do.
Notice the little box with jars of flowers?
Simple way to arrange flowers, AKA you don’t have to be a florist to make it look good!
I’ll be posting about it soon.
If distressed paint is your thing, then you’ll love our:
Coffee Sack Art
I originally shared this project on Housing A Forest, where I share creative ideas for Kids.
Until Next time
Tammy