Tuesday, October 13, 2009

A dusty tired iron candle holder to beautiful bathroom inspiration!

It's Tuesday and time for DIY over at A Soft Place To Land. Check out all of these amazing crafters. These gals have really inspired me to get off my lazy bootie and CREATE!

My ex gave this iron candle holder to me for my birthday about 8 years ago.

I really liked it at the time but it's run it's course. The poor candles melted from sitting in a window sill over many summers and just look at the dust on the iron. I seriously thought "This is going in the trash". Then I thought, "What would happen if I repurposed it"? Not sure what I was going to do but figured since it was garbage bound anyway, why not?


First it got a shot of some antique white spray paint. I didn't over spray because I liked the peek of black. Sort of gave it an "old" feel.


A new pillar candle for $4.99 at Hobby Lobby...


A pile of permanent Botanicals,some floral foam and a bit of new ribbon...

And look at this beauty!
Waiting for garbage day...

To a new window sill treatment in our bathroom!



Here's what it looks like from behind.
This took me maybe an hour to create. I used hot glue to hold the floral foam in place, I purchased the Botanicals at Hobby Lobby last week at 1/2 off as well as the ribbon I used. I already had the floral foam so all told, this project cost me around $10!


I liked it so much, I went on the next night and made this!
A towel caddy for the jetted tub!




 I saw something similar on Martha Stewart's web site but since I'm not a "Martha-ite" I decided I could make it better. I love it! It totally cleared all the edges of the tub.
Here's a shot from the side and a little bit closer up. The towel caddy cost me $1.50 for a cheap towel from WalMart and I already had the ribbon from my Botanical arrangement. Super easy, super cheap and I'm super happy with the results! Two projects in two nights!!  Woo Hoo!

I wanted to add a quick word about using permanent Botanicals. I used to be of the mind set that "fake flowers" were taboo. However, my older sister is a Special Event Design Florist, the best one, in Colorado Springs. I am fortunate to get to help her set up and design many weddings and I've learned a lot along the way, including the use of permanent Botanicals. See? Even changing the wording makes you feel better, right?
Don't be afraid to really cut up those guys! Here's what I usually end up with when I'm done cutting and bending and arranging:
See? Carve those babies up and make them look the way you want them to. This is usually what I have left after I'm done.
Second..not all permanent Botanicals are of good quality. I got mine from Hobby Lobby and I've also bought quite a few from Michael's. However, I rarely buy them from WalMart. They look like fake flowers and you really want to be sure that if you're using them, they look real.
Third...permanent Botanicals ARE NOT for weddings! Use real flowers! You just wont regret it!

Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned...I've gotten so inspired by these projects that I've decided to add a few more things!

4 comments:

Kathryn said...

This is lovely. You did a great job!

Kate @ The Gaines Gang said...

It turned out great! Does not even look like the same candle holder!

Thanks for sharing!

K@The Thrifty Teacher said...

That really turned out great!

Anonymous said...

Ok..IF I EVER get started on my house...you are coming here and doing my decorating!! IT IS GORGEOUS!

Love ya,