DIY Wood Trim Trifle Bowl

How many times have you gone into the Dollar Tree or any store for that matter and bought random items you just couldn't resist? You know, the ones that are so cute or you just love the colors or patterns especially if they're purple or have purple in them, lol! Or maybe something you know you might need one day, or popular items you know you're going to make something with! Well my craft room is full of things like these! Especially if they're purple! 

So for this month Craft Room De-stash Challenge, I'm hauling out a trifle bowl that I got from the Dollar Tree - just because it was PURPLE! Plus, I will be using a box of the ever popular tumbling tower game. I'm not going to tell you how many boxes I have of that game. But to be fair, I was going to use them in my craft class that I have each month in my community clubhouse. I just haven't gotten to it, yet!

Let's get started with what I made using a trifle bowl and wood blocks. But first, I want to mention that this is not my original idea. I saw something like this on Tik Tok and wrote the idea down in my project book. But when I went back to find out who inspired me, the site had been removed for policy violation. Omg! The lady used a clear trifle bowl and she stained her tumbling blocks with a brown stain. For a variation .  .  . 

I am using a purple bowl and used coffee and alcohol inks to stain the blocks.

Anyway, first make sure the plastic trifle bowl is clean and free of dirt or sticker glue. Acetone (nail polish) is good to remove any sticky residue.

Materials used:

• Plastic trifle bowl
• Tape measure
• Tumble tower blocks
• Starboard Super Glue
• Parchment paper
• Coffee (instant) and alcohol inks 
• Aluminum pan
• Hand saw, ruler. pencil

Begin by measuring around the bowl (circumference) - which was a little less than 19 inches.

Then I started gluing two of the wood blocks together, as shown. In hindsight, I should have stained the blocks first. I discovered that glue does not actually stain. Lesson learned! 

I laid the measuring tape out on my work surface and as I glued the blocks together, placed them along the tape to give me an idea of how many I would need.

To match the bowl somewhat, I wanted to stain the blocks with shades of purple alcohol inks, but needed a filler of some sort to create enough liquid to cover the blocks to soak in. Enter instant coffee. I mixed 4 tablespoons of instant coffee with hot water in an empty plastic container and added several drops of purple alcohol to the coffee. I dipped a block in it to see what it would look like. I wasn't impressed, lol!

So I dumped the blocks in an aluminum tray, poured the coffee mixture over the blocks .  .  . 

and took a look after about an hour. Not exactly what I had in mind.

So I mixed about a half a bottle of two different shades of alcohol ink in a spray bottle .  .  .

and began spraying the wood blocks as they floated in the coffee/ink solution.

Now the blocks are looking so much better! Remember me telling you how I should have stain first and glued later? See the glue blotches?

Once the blocks dried, I tried using sandpaper to remove the glue, but that was a hot mess, lol!  I tried painting after sanding but the stain was uneven with so many different shades. But I continued on .  .  .

gluing on the blocks in a staggered pattern around the bowl.

One up, one down.

One up, one down, staggered all the way around the bowl.

Until reaching near the end. There was not enough space for a full size block, so I measured how much to cut off .  .  .

using a ruler and pencil to mark the block .  .  .

and using a small hacksaw to remove the excess block.

It's a pretty good fit .  .  .

to glue in the last open spot.

I really love this block pattern!

Perfect to hold a purple candle!

Or any other type, like an LED candle or anything else I may think of!

PS, I made these foil wall flowers back in 2014 and they have held up quite nicely!

 I hope you truly enjoyed my de-stash project - especially done in purple hues! Thank you for stopping by our blog hop challenge!

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I've joined a group of creative bloggers each month to bring you a themed blog hop challenge on the 2nd Monday of the month, hosted by Beverly @Across the Blvd. This month, it's all about creating projects from items found in our craft room!

Be sure to click on the links below to check out all of the fabulous craft room de-stash creations:

Beverly | Across the Blvd | St Patrick's Day Centerpiece DIY

Allyson | Southern Sunflowers | DIY Photo Frame Using a Craft Stencil

Niki | Life as as LEO Wife |

Gail | Purple Hues and Me | DIY Wood Trim Trifle Bowl

T’onna | Sew Crafty Crochet |

Marci | Stone Cottage Adventures | Vibrant Tote with Pockets