DIY Distressed Thrift Store Candlesticks

We live in a house full of distress…and not the bad kind like “I’m so distressed I’m going to scream into a pillow until I’m blue in the face” but the good kind. The kind where shoes pile up at the front door because we are blessed to have so many friends and family close by to drop in for frequent visits.

The kind where puzzle pieces scatter our floors because our toddler’s brain is always at work (and we sometimes wonder what really goes on in that sweet curly head of hers). The kind where the dishes in our sink are usually piled high because my husband and I put off chores to laugh and share our stories of the day after dinner. Distress is good.

DIY Distressed "Concrete" Thrift Store Candlesticks

So the fact that I always want to distress everything I find at the local thrift store is no surprise. It matches our home. Very imperfect but perfect at the same time. So when I stumbled across four candlesticks for 99 cents at Goodwill (my usual stomping grounds), I knew they were destined for shabby greatness.

They were dusty and encrusted with old wax probably leftover from many holiday gatherings on another family table.

And since I had a big ol’ box of leftover paint, I had nothing to lose.

So after a good cleaning to remove the grime, I painted on two coats of Valspar Montpelier Ashlar Gray (that I had previously used on our foyer mirror).

After they were dry, I dry brushed them with a bit of white craft paint. I started light and added a little more to control how much I wanted.

Then, I dry brushed a layer of Folk Art Home Decor Chalk Paint in Java (affiliate). I had a good bit leftover from my distressed frames.

I gave them a light sanding with a ply of fine grit paper. Since these candlesticks are metal, the paint came off just easily enough.

And that was it! Really simple, dirt cheap, and a charming little accessory.

DIY Distressed "Concrete" Thrifted Candlesticks

I have them sitting on our rope shelf window ledge but because our downstairs hallway is so dark, I put them on our media cabinet to show them off for a second. They almost have a stone/concrete look to them and they are stellar!

Tomorrow, I’ll be back with this week’s Craft Frenzy Friday so stop in to link up or even to check out all of the inspiring creativity out there in the blogosphere. I’m always amazed at so many blogger’s abilities out there.

Cheers to keeping your home imperfect! Embrace it. It’s a beautiful thing.

Blessings,