Makeover a thrifted candlestick with some easy DIY chalk paint! This 2-ingredient paint transforms your DIY chalk paint candlestick quickly, and upcycles your item into something really beautiful!
DIY Chalk Paint Candlestick
I was shopping at the thrift store looking for Christmas decorations this season, and found this candlestick. It wasn’t really my style as-is. It’s a little too formal and ornate for our home, and the combination of the gold and the red undertones didn’t really match our decor.
I thought it would be a great item to do a thrift flip on! It’s the perfect candidate for a trash to treasure craft. All I had to do was add some textured chalk paint. That covered enough of the design that it didn’t feel too embellished for us, but left enough of the design that it still feels pretty and special as a holiday decoration.
How to Make Homemade Chalk Paint
There are tons of DIY chalk paint recipes, but we’re sticking with a simple baking soda chalk paint for this candlestick makeover. That’s because we want a thick paint so that it can fill in a lot of the divots in the design, which tones down how ornate this piece feels. Plus, making a textured paint with only two ingredients is pretty awesome!
To make the chalk paint, mix a 1 to 1 ratio of acrylic paint to baking soda.
The paint should be very gritty, but if you think it’s too gritty, just add some more paint until you get the texture you want.
You could add a clear chalk paint wax to the top if you want, but since this piece isn’t one that’s likely to be handled frequently, I don’t think it’s necessary.
How to Make an Upcycled Candlestick
The full directions to make this candlestick is in the printable card at the bottom of the post, but here’s a condensed version of the directions:
- Clean the thrifted candlestick and let it dry.
- Make the baking soda chalk paint, and paint the candlestick. Let dry.
- Sand off some of the paint to reveal some of the design beneath. Wipe off the sanding dust.
- Enjoy displaying with some beautiful taper candles!
What You’ll Need
To make this candlestick you’ll need a couple of tools (affiliate links):
- Paintbrush. I use this set for pretty much all of my crafting because it always has one that will work for my project.
- Acrylic paint. I used a black acrylic paint.
- Baking soda. I’m sure you’ve got some of this in your pantry already! If not, you can buy some here.
- Fine grit sandpaper. I like to use a really fine grit sandpaper, like this one, to give the paint a more polished look.
- Craft paper towels. These are the paper towels that I love using for all of my crafting. They don’t leave any lint behind and are just the best!
- Taper candles. I’m a sucker for taper candles. I love how beautiful these ones are!
DIY Christmas Crafts
If you’re looking for more easy upcycled and thrift flip Christmas crafts, be sure to check these out!
Click here to pin this project for later!
Makeover a thrifted candlestick with some easy DIY chalk paint! This 2-ingredient paint transforms your thrift find quickly, and upcycles your item into something really beautiful! Clean your candlestick holder. Mix some baking soda chalk paint. You can do this by mixing a 1:1 ratio of chalk paint to baking soda. We're purposefully using a high ratio of baking soda because it helps fill in some of the designs on the candlestick. Paint the entire candlestick, being sure to really push the paint in to the divots of the design. Allow the candlestick to fully dry. Use fine grit sandpaper to remove some of the paint on the ridges of the design. This will allow some, but not all, of the original design to show through. Use a damp paper towel or cloth to wipe off the dust. Be sure to pick a candlestick that has a design with raised edges. The one that I bought at the thrift store was pretty, but too ornate for my taste. Using the thick baking soda chalk paint helped to fill some of the design so it became more subdued.DIY Chalk Paint Candlestick
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