DIY Candle Holder

When October first started I had all these plans to decorate for Halloween and make everything look all festive.

And then life happened.

Between school for my oldest, my birthday, an unexpected/last minute vacation for Fall Break, making a Halloween costume, and more, I didn't really get around to everything I wanted to do.

Just this past week though I was able to hurry and whip up some last minute things for the house.

I had wanted to decorate our fireplace mantel with some little pumpkins where one of them was on a candle holder.

The only problem was, I couldn't find a 'candle holder' that I liked, or even one I could re-purpose. Anywhere.

I checked the dollar store, the local thrift store, even Wal-mart.

Thankfully I remembered seeing this idea years ago somewhere, and thankfully this was so quick and easy that I was able to finish it in under 20 minutes!

I made a 'quick' trip to Michael's one day to see what wooden trinkets they had available.

The two large circles were .29 each and the 'toy wheel' and 'wooden pears' were $1/each, so this came together for me for less than $2.50.

Not too shabby I'd say!

 I had a charcoal grey acrylic craft paint on hand, so I started by painting everything that color.

It dried pretty quickly, so I was able to do the tops of everything first and then go back and paint underneath.

 I had wanted to use wood glue or something more sturdy, but all I had on hand was my trusty hot glue gun, and I wanted to get this done!

I glued one of the 'pears' upright on top of one of the large circles,

the 'toy wheel was next, with another 'pear', this one upside down though,

and then topped off with the other circle.

Ta-da!

That wasn't too hard, now was it?
So far it's held up beautifully, and it will be safely stored with our other Halloween decor when the holiday is over.
Next year I'll have it out on display first thing :)