Don’t trash those spindles! Make a repurposed spindle stand and create the CUTEST Valentine’s Day mantel on a dime. Girl – you know I love to take some trash and make it fabulous. When I saw some old chairs going in the burn pile at our deer camp I saved them from an untimely demise.
Sometimes you have to look at the parts and pieces, not the whole to come up with the best ideas. Seriously these chairs where broken to pieces, but those sweet little spindles where shining like a pot of gold. I made sure they made the trip home with us. It took a few hammers, wiggles and bangs to get the spindles apart from the chair frame, but I got ’em.
I made these precious little repurposed spindle stands that I plan on using for decor and holidays to come. I will tell you how to make these simple stands AND how to make the darling paper hearts I put on them so stick with me!
How to Make Repurposed Spindle Stands
- The highlighted affiliate links in this tutorial will show you the products I use so you can order what you need!
- Find yummy spindles and hoard them like a maniac.
- You will need a paddle bit or large drill bit depending on the size of your spindle. To determine the size you need line up your bit with the end of your spindle and make sure they are the same width.
- Use a piece of scrap wood as a base . You will want to make sure it is long enough and heavy enough to hold the weight of whatever decor you use on this stand. A wider base helps it not tip over.
- Drill a hole (my drill here!) in the middle of your base piece using your chosen bit. Remember when drilling let the drill do the work. Apply slight pressure straight up and down for a clean, straight hole.
- Fit the base of your spindle into the hole, carve out more if needed until you get a snug fit.
- Dab a touch of wood glue or hot glue (my glue gun here) in the hole and secure the spindle into it.
How to Make Paper Hearts for Valentine’s Day Decor
- Get kraft color or some type of fun colored wrapping paper.
- Collect various heart shapes to use as stencils. I got felt hearts and dollies in multiple sizes from the Dollar Tree.
- Roll out the wrapping paper and place hearts all over, separated enough to spray paint around them.
- Use spray paint (I used Rust-oleum Matte Black) and spray straight up and down lightly around the outside of the “stencil”, then be sure to spray all the openings. You can spray as heavy or light as you like, but it I think it looks best when the outside shape is sprayed well for good definition. The rest can be distressed looking.
- Cut out around the heart, cutting larger than the stenciled portion.
- Hot glue the heart to another sheet of wrapping paper, leave the bottom third unglued. Cut out the heart again to cut the back to match the front.
- Stuff heart with left over paper scraps and glue the bottom almost shut. (If you want to use these paper hearts to lay around in decor vignettes then glue them completely shut)
- Slide onto the spindle stand, hot glue to stand if needed. You can easily peel off the hot glue and reuse these stands for another decor idea or holiday after Valentine’s Day has passed.
- Have fun sprinkling these all over the mantel for a stunning Valentine’s Day decor idea!
I love to layer all the different sizes and textures for a super simple Valentine’s Day mantel. The different wrapping papers add such variety and style that you really don’t need anything else to complete the look, but garland always has my heart! I threw some black and white wood ball garland in the mix for fun.
You can also throw some in a basket or dough bowl for a simple touch that adds a little Valentine’s Day. Let me know how you decorate with these cuties!
So glad those spindles were recycled! Cute decor-I like the black and white theme.
thanks Mary Ellen – black and white is a lot of fun!