Do you have a hard time throwing some things away? There are lots of things I don’t think twice about. Clothes, pillows, dishes are few that I don’t blink an eye at. Maybe one of those are the thing that’s hard for you? For me, I definitely have a hard time throwing wood things away.
Wood seems timeless. It can be painted, stained and built onto and is such a sustainable product. Recently, my Jeremiah was cleaning out his closet and found this wood marble run toy. He didn’t want it anymore, and I kept looking at it thinking there has gotta be something I can create with this old toy!
I looked at the size of wood. They were perfect fun, block size pieces.
I looked at the texture. They were smooth, already sanded, sturdy pieces.
As I stared at the pieces, I realized I could turn them into a recycled candlestick holder.
Recycled Candlesticks Make Fun, Quirky Decor!
I found a wood circle in our garage to be a bigger base and gave that a quick sanding. I then added a little superglue to hold the pieces together and let them dry. I had so much fun moving the pieces around to see what size and angle I wanted them to be. The candlesticks looked really pretty just left as wood, but you know me. I love color, so I added some acrylic paint to jazz them up a bit.
After the recycled candlesticks were dry, I was ready to display them and enjoy! I love mixing homemade decor into our home. These added a fun element to our kitchen table.
I love how they look in my office too, so only time will tell on where they officially end up. How fun are they!? I made something new from something that was almost just trashed or donated away.
My favorite ways to get creative are often to use something that is not expected. I like to use things we wouldn’t find in a craft store.
Being creative is just a process of pairing ideas.
The Creative Process Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive.
We all have things we can repurpose and reuse to make something new.
One way to see things in a new way is to make sure our tanks are full. We can’t be operating on fumes, lack of sleep, deprived of things that bring us joy to have eyes to see things differently. It takes space to have energy or margin to think differently than our auto pilot normal.
That is the most expensive part of the creative process. It requires us to be more whole to think creatively.
I am so excited about my new recycled candlesticks. Now, my mind is going trying to think of other things that would make great candlesticks. Fall is a great time to light some candles to bring some warm and comfort inside as the world is getting colder on the outside.
So, do you have something you can look at with new eyes and make something different out of it? If you need help with this, join us in my 30 Day Imaginative Journey. We are practicing small, quick exercises to get us thinking and practicing growing our creative muscles! Download your free calendar here!
Check out what my Reagan made for her Halloween costume out of trash, which was from one of the imaginative prompts!
Want to add a pop of color in your house without purchasing anything new? This is a project you can do!
Next, I pulled out a couple of my leftover spray paints that I liked and did a light coat of each color all around my lamp.
I let each color dry completely, before I sprayed the next color. I overlapped the colors a little as I sprayed to create a natural ombre look.
It’s always a little more challengingĀ to do spray paint projects during the dead of winter. It’s been hovering around “Brrrr,Ā it’s cold” to “I can’t feel my face” this past month. Which means spray painting is happening in the garage. While it’s certainly warmer than outside it still feels like “I’m losing feeling in my toes” after about 20 minutes. So all that to say, it takes things a lot longer to dry. Be sure to let your lamp dry completely, so you don’t get fingerprints or scratch marks on your new colorful project.
Once your lamp is dry, add a light bulb and lampshade and you are ready to go! I love the way that my white lampshade looks with this new colorful base. It’s such a fun mix!
I’m hoping this little desk and lamp helps me toĀ have a focused workspace. Maybe it will help my kitchen counter from becoming an office.
Do you remember when I made these 
Do you ever have natural instincts towards something, but you can’t always fully explain it until you keep learning in towards it!? Whew. That’s a bit confusing. Let me explain.
I love color, so I gathered my usual color scheme. I used leftover latex paint from when we painted our studio. We had a great selection of samples and colors that we had used to paint the studio’s walls. To use what I had and save money I chose to not use fabric paint. Please note: this did make my curtain more crisp and stiff.
Oh man. There were so many smiles, laughs and brainstorms as they created side by side. As they filled in the gray…
The hardest part of this whole project was waiting for it to dry. We might have driven back over to the studio (where we painted it) to pick it up a few hours latter…only to realize it wasn’t dry yet. We ended up letting it dry overnight and then brought our masterpiece home. My girl tried to claim it as a blanket. Haha! It would not be a very good blanket since the material was thin and now also stiff. It was the perfect curtain though.
I hung it in my room. My husband no longer needs to pin a shirt up to our window. Success! I love how the colors on the curtain add a fun pop of color to my gray walls and light colored bed quilt, yet it combines with my 
What do you think? Do you enjoy the art process too? Would you ever try a large scale abstract process art project like this!? If you don’t want to do it or it feels intimidating, don’t do it…kids will gladly step in and make it happen for you! š