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Upcycled Glass Chandelier

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Upcycled Glass Chandelier into DIY Candlesticks – easy and elegant!

Glass prisms can be very expensive. I was looking for some bobeches to add to some DIY wooden candlesticks. Then, I remembered the glass chandelier I had in my stash. So, all I had to do was use the upcycled glass chandelier parts for my new DIY candlesticks!

upcycled glass chandelier
upcycled glass chandelier

Look at all of those precious baubles on the glass chandelier. However, first I need to take all of those pieces apart.

thrift store decor team

This is our Thrift Store Day. Be sure to check out all the projects below.

Dismantle Glass Chandelier

dismantle glass chandelier

Carefully, I removed all of the parts that would later help me make my fancy DIY candlesticks.

Clean Glass pieces

To clean the glass, pendalogue pieces, chains and bobeches I started off with Dawn dish soap and alcohol solution. I used warm water, and soaked the pieces.

The glass is pretty, but I’m not a fan of of the vintage wire pieces. It’s amazing how much was harvested from this one glass chandelier. There were five arms, five small bobeches, two columns, tons of small glass bead chains, and a lot of the larger glass prism pendalogues. I’ll easily have enough glass pieces for my DIY candlesticks, plus a lot of baubles for other random projects!

Don’t have a glass chandelier? You can find prisms on Amazon!

Because I’m allergic to Dawn, I wore gloves. After round one of washing the glass pieces, there was still a lot of nicotine on the pieces. Seriously, can you believe it?

Spray On TSP Substitute

spray on TSP

Using the spray on TSP substitute made my job a lot easier. I let it soak on the pieces for awhile, then rinsed and dried all the glass chandelier pieces again.

Buff and Dry Glass Chandelier Pieces

Do you use flour sack towels? I bought some to make decorative towels, and had a bunch left over. The towel dried and shined the crystals!

So many fun glass pieces! Plenty enough for some DIY candlesticks and more!

Wooden Spindle DIY Candlesticks

wooden spindles

Looking in my stash of spindles, I found these three pieces that matched. I’ve had them for years, and used half of them for my DIY kitchen island.

I felt they would be perfect for my DIY candlesticks with the glass bobeches. I cut off the base, trying to make them varying heights.

Paint & Distress

wedgewood blue

Isn’t this blue beautiful? I used this Wedgewood Blue on a hook shelf. I love these small brushes, you can find them in my Amazon store.

Visit the My Repurposed Life Amazon Store to shop my favorite items.

easy distressing

Did you see my Best Craft & DIY Tips? One of the tips shared from Kathy @ Petticoat Junktion is about an easy distressing technique using a layering block. I don’t have a layering block, so I used a scrap piece of wood I cut off of the spindle candlestick base. It’s really simple, I just painted some white paint on it and rubbed it on the edges of the spindle. It gives the look of white peeking through the blue. So EASY!

easy distressing

See? Doesn’t it look like the white is peeking through?

Blue Candlesticks with Glass Bobeches

DIY Candlesticks

The upcycled glass chandelier pieces work perfectly for my new DIY candlesticks! Only one of the bobeches were intact, I had to reattach the glass crystals on the other two.

I didn’t attach them yet, but the choices are plentiful. You can use E6000, GE Silicone for Windows and Doors, Hot Glue, or Gorilla Glue.

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More Great Thrift Store Ideas

Jump over to see your favorite before pictures and let ’em know Gail sent you. 🙂

20 Comments

    1. Too late Charlene. The chandelier had broken pieces, and was getting rusty from being out in the elements. The projects completed will bring joy to more people.

      gail

  1. What a creative project. All of those pieces worked perfectly! Thank you for sharing.i do have a distressing block but mine never looks good. I guess practice makes perfect

    1. Cheryl,
      I have so many more crystals. More projects coming, someday! I used my own scrap wood, but ended up buying the layering block off of Amazon. I like that it has a big knob/handle. I’m anxious to try it on a few projects.

      gail

  2. You have a lot leftover. We hade a problem with crows in our grassy courtyard. They are really mean birds. They swoop down on people and the dog and eat smaller birds. So I made bird twirlers to hang from the patio. I used the prisms and the canopies off the tops of a few ugly hanging lamps drilled small holes in the canopy, hooked the lines of prisms on and hung them. The only birds it wards off are the crows and hawks.

    1. Awesome idea Jennie! I always worry about Lulu Mae and hawks. She knows the term “bad bird, go in”. If we’re out together, she comes to my side for protection, and often times will alert me to a hawk by looking up. My goal has been that she will come to the porch when I’m not around. You’re idea sounds great.

      gail

  3. I love how your DIY Candlesticks came together, super cute and I love that color! How did you find out you are allergic to dawn? That’s even crazier than me being allergic to cobalt blue lol.

    1. Kristin,

      While visiting other people, and helping with dishes…. dawn breaks out my hands.

      I love that color too! Blue is my favorite color, and that shade is so pretty.

  4. Just when I thought I knew it all in the painting world…a layering block??? Goodbye to dusty messy distressing! Great way to use those crystal parts. I get so angry when the old glitzy Chandys have rust beneath the fittings. Great option here to recycle!! And the cleaning tips are excellent!

    1. I know, right? It was the first time I used the layering block technique, but it’s not my last!!! Happy to share Kathy’s tutorial with my friends.

      gail

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