Birdcage Candle Holder Update

When I first saw the candle holder at Goodwill, I had no idea how popular the birdcage style was! I thought it was a bargain at six dollars, but after buying it and then looking around on Pinterest I wasn't so sure. Some stores carried similar ones for less!

I also saw lots of DIY birdcage remakes done by many including some of my favorite fellow crafters on Pinterest! But I loved the design of the birdcage candle holder and came up with a way to update its' look using soda cans and a flower punch! 

Welcome to this months' "Do It Over Designers" Blog Hop! The "Do It Over Designers" is a group of creative bloggers who love to recycle/upcycle/ DIY, hosted by Anne @The Apple Street Cottage. It happens the 4th Saturday of every other month and it's all about taking something old and/or unused and 'doing it over' into something new. Thanks Anne for hosting this wonderful blog hop!

So let's get started with how I updated my thrift store birdcage candle holder find! 

Materials Used: 

• Birdcage Candle Holder (Thrift Store)
• Soda cans
• Craft Knife/Scissors/Needle-Nose Pliers
• Hydrangea Punches
• Ball styluses
• Foam pad
• Ceramic glue
• Clothespins
• White outdoor spray paint
• Glass goblet
• Color Changing LED Candle

Disclosure I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, this post may contain links. I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you! The affiliate money I earn helps pay my crafting expenses. Thanks so much for your support!

 Let's begin with the soda cans! *Caution: You may want to wear gloves for this!   To get a smooth sheet of soda can aluminum: Carefully cut off the top end of a clean soda can using  a utility knife and craft scissors. 

Make a vertical cut with scissors across the can to get to the opposite can end to remove.

Cut an even edge, removing any slivers or jagged edges. 

Once you have the soda can aluminum cut out, smooth the curve of the can by rolling the aluminum in the opposite direction or rolling on the edge of a table or countertop. 

To make the petals, insert the aluminum piece into the petal punch so you can see that the aluminum is under the petal shapes completely and then punch the petals out. Once the petals are punched, adjust the aluminum to punch more or remove the excess using small needle nose pliers to pull the aluminum out.

Once the flowers are punched out, use a round stylus and foam pad to give dimension and curvature to the petal centers.

Then glue the flower petals together according to size starting with the larger one on the bottom.

I needed four of the larger flowers to glue around the lower bottom of the birdcage plus one more for the top. And sixteen smaller ones to place where the wrought iron designs intersect.

Once all the flowers were assembled, glued the larger ones in-between the wrought iron columns and used clothespins to hold them in place until dry.

Then glued on the individual, smaller flower petals where the wrought iron design criss-crossed on the top.

After all the flowers were glued on, spray painted the birdcage a matte finished white!

Once painted white, this birdcage candle holder looks super cute! The top hinges open so you can fill it with a variety of items like a candle, natural florals and more!

But wait! Wouldn't the birdcage candle holder look so much better on a pedestal?  Oh, YES! I painted a glass goblet white, turned it upside down, and glued the birdcage candle holder to the stem base!                                                                             

  And then added an LED candle! The cool thing about this candle is that it's an automatic color changing candle - changing colors every few seconds. Here it is in a pretty magenta and .  .  .

then a cool lavender!

And how about a fresh minty color or .  .  .

a calming blue hue?

Plus, a few more colors - creating a cozy atmosphere with its' illuminating touch!

Adding flair to your home, or outdoor patio!

Be sure to visit all of this month's creative projects by the 

"Do It Over Designers" listed below:

The Apple Street Cottage

 

Birdz of a Feather

 

Exquisitely Unremarkable

 

Little Vintage Cottage

 

Purple Hues & Me

 

Southern Sunflowers

 

Sum of Their Stories

Lavender Frost Daisy Catchall Dish

One of the best things about springtime is seeing all the pretty spring flowers blooming everywhere! So why not bring a pretty touch of spring to your home decor by making a super cute spring Lavender Frost Daisy Catchall Dish out of polymer clay! It's a  perfect addition to our Creative Craft Hop hosted this month by Sara @Birdz of a Feather! Welcome! We are so glad you're here! If you're coming over from Carol @ Blue Sky at Home, wasn't her recovered outdoor bench cushion fabulous! At the bottom of my post I'll tell you the next stop on this hop! But be sure to visit all of the creative crafters who join this hop for some amazing inspirations! 

I recently came across a picture of a flower called Serenity Lavender Frost ‘Balserlavosim’ daisy that I really loved. Just take a look:

Can you imagine seeing something like this in a dish made out of clay? I had some left over polymer clay from a few months ago when I made a heart shaped dish that I needed to use before it got too hard to make anything. So I was going to try to make a dish with this lovely daisy as my inspiration! 

Materials:

• Sculpey oven-bake polymer clay - white/purple 
• Parchment paper
• Silicone mat
• Rolling pin
• Flower template
• Scissors
• Craft Knife
• Old plastic card
• Oven safe bowl
• Aluminum cookie sheet
• Sandpaper/sanding block
• White acrylic paint/paint brush
• Sculpey satin glaze 

Disclosure I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, this post may contain links. I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you! The affiliate money I earn helps pay my crafting expenses. Thanks so much for your support!

How To:

First, I needed to find a free twelve petals (rays) flower (daisy) template online which I did. Then I copied the template, printed it using a laser printer and then cut it out! 

Next, I got out the left over oven baked clay and laid it out on parchment paper.

Next, I tried rolling it into ball and .  .  .

after much kneading to soften the clay up, I was able to make a ball.

Then, used a roller pin (Dollar Tree) to roll the clay out into a round shape .  .  . 

about a 1/4" thick.

Once I had a round shape that was big enough for the template, I placed the flower template on top and .  .  .

started cutting the flower design out.

I know .  .  . I didn't do such a great job cutting the flower template out, lol! You can see I had trouble going around the petal tips.

Never the less, I removed the access clay around the flower.

Then I started kneading a small amount of lavender (purple) clay to make the center disc. 

Rolling the clay into a cylinder shape to .  .  .

coil into a disc to .  .  .

place in the center of the flower.

Then I used the edge of an old plastic ID card I got from a cruise to define the petals.

The flower is really beginning to come together, don't you think!

Carefully lay the flower into a oven safe bowl. One that would allow the petals to curl up a bit and not lay flat.

Pre-set the oven at 275 degrees per package instructions and place the bowl on a metal cookie sheet. 

Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes per instructions. Once the fifteen minutes were over, I let the dish stay in the oven until the oven cooled. 

Once the flower was at room temperature, I used a nail file to smooth out the edges of the petals.

Then I painted the bottom of the dish using white chalk paint - which didn't seem to brighten the clay, so I painted on a second coat of an acrylic paint called snow white. That looked pretty good, so I painted the top, too.

Once the white paint was dry, it was time to paint the disc, lavender purple. I had a time painting on the rays from the disc using the tip of a toothpick. Oh well! Once all of the paint was dry, I painted on a coat of Sculpey Glaze to seal. 

I must say that I love how the Lavender Frost Daisy catchall dish turned out!

It looks really cool and it certainly does compliment my decor! Just perfect for Spring!

I hope you enjoyed how I made my Lavender Frost Daisy Catchall Dish!  Welcome once again to our Creative Craft Hop! 

Up next is Terri @ Decorate and More with Tip sharing her awesome Repurposed Old Window! You will be amazed how she did that! And be sure to check out all of the talented bloggers sharing their awesome creations below:   

Jenna @The Painted Apron - Glue Gun Caddy

Carol @ Blue Sky At Home -  Easy and Quick Way to Recover an Outdoor Bench Cushion

Gail @ Purple Hues and Me - Lavender Frost Daisy Catchall Dish

Terri @Decorate and More with Tip - Repurposed Old Window

Sara @ Birdz of a Feather - Word Art Design

Donna @Modern on Monticello - DIY Painted Rocks For Grandkid's Garden Area

Cecilia @My Thrift Store Addiction - Fragrant Honeysuckle and Rosemary Luminary

Ann @ The Apple Stree Cottage - Easy Inexpensive Swing Frame Art