Thrift Store Candlestick Makeover

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Add some vintage style to your home with this easy thrift store candle makeover idea

I see wood and brass candlesticks all the time at thrift stores and while they often look beat up and outdated it doesn’t take much to rehab them! I’ll show you a fun idea for a candlestick makeover you can do in minutes.

I am joining a handful of girlfriends today, lead by my friend Julie from the blog Redhead Can Decorate. If you scroll down you will find links to some great thrifty projects by these awesome ladies. I love bringing you bonus ideas!!!

If you want to polish the brass part I recommend doing that first. I rarely do this step though.

First of all, paint is your friend here. It seriously makes all things new and covers lots of bumps and bruises. It’s the perfect way to take something old new and bend it to your home decor color palette and style. I went with a simple coat of acrylic craft paint by Folkart in Parchment applied with a sponge brush. Two coats might be necessary. You might want to tape of the brass but if you don’t you can free hand it and the pain will usually scrape of the brass if you mess up.

And just like that, your candlestick is made over, but if you want to make it super fun add a tassel! You could try this amazing tassel idea or make this cute lace tassel.

How to make a tassel for your candlestick makeover

I gathered some neutral pieces of ribbon, lace, burlap and other fun textures. Be sure not to get your ribbon too fat or it will be hard to work into the tassel.
Cut equal lengths of your ribbon. Make them your desired length, to fit the project you are working on.
Stack them, slightly turning them in your stack. Put the thinnest ribbon on bottom and mix the ribbons as you stack.
Tie them up in the middle and leave a long length of twine, tied in a loop so you have ample room to hang the tassel from your candlestick or other decor object.
Fold them in half at the tied part and make ball at the top, wrap jute twin or ribbon around the base of the ball. Wrap several times for a cute thick wrap and tie off.
Hold all the ribbons together at the bottom of the tassel and trim them to equal lengths for a nice clean finish.

These tassels are perfect to up your thrifted candlesticks but they also can jazz up so many other decor elements, so use them generously in your home. Now make sure you go check out some of these other thrifty ideas from my girlfriends: