Linen and Twigs

Well, hello there! May is upon us and I’m pumped…and also freaking out a bit. haha May is an extremely busy month for our family but also filled with so much joy! Of course there is Mother’s Day and Memorial Day to celebrate but also four birthdays including mine. Needless to say, we’ll be partying every weekend! Oh and did I mention that we’re throwing a baby shower for our daughter in law too? I suppose we could have pushed it until June but I’m afraid that’s cutting it a little close in the event that the little guy wants to join us sooner. After all, May seems to be a great month to be born into… And now that I said (typed) it out loud, I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

With our schedule being so busy, I love a good shortcut and if you double it with saving money, then I’m all in. I recently bought a pair of wooden candlesticks from our local thrift store for $5.00 for the set. I loved that they were solid wood and chunky looking. What I didn’t care for was the finish on them because they were a bit too shiny and the wood tone was a bit too dark for my liking. Okay, I also had to look past the candle wax that had dripped down the sides too. What I did see once I turned them over is that they were originally from World Market and had cost quite a bit more than $5.00 for the pair. I could work with that! (I apologize for not having a before picture of the candlesticks. I had no idea it was going to turn into a cool how to project.)

Like I said, the look I achieved was kind of a happy accident. I needed to get the drippy wax off of them so I began scrubbing them with a scouring pad. This began to remove the shiny finish as well and I was liking it.

After roughing up the wood a bit, I wanted to see if I could lighten the color as well so I sprayed both candlesticks with some bleach cleaner and let it sit for about ten minutes. I rinsed them with water and let them air dry. That was it!

Once they dried, they took on a barn wood look and I loved them! They coordinate so well with my lamp bases and wooden tray too.

Total cost of this project: less than $8.00! I’ll take that any day!

Have a wonderful day friends!

Love,