Deck the Halls Mantel DIY Spindle Candle Holders

How I repurposed old spindles into candle holders and went beserks on the mantel for Christmas 2015.  My buildy friend Jen at The House of Wood is hosting Deck the Halls DIY Style and today is my day to share.  

Jen hosted a similar series last December when we shared our DIY tables, there are some beautiful ideas there, but this year the focus is mantels or vignettes and I choose to repurpose some twisty old spindles into candle holders and flood my mantel with candles.

I've had these spindles for at least 5 years with no project in mind.  The twisted shape attracted me long ago and I've just held on to them, in all there were about 30 spindles.  Reluctantly I cut them into shorter pieces trusting my project would work out.

And now they fill our Living Room mantel with a sea of glossy, red, twisted wood spindly goodness!

Down below I'll show you how I repurposed the spindles and made them into candle holders.

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DIY Bucket Shelving

Hello buildy friends!  Things are getting serious now that we're past Thanksgiving and the countdown is really on.  Ana White and I have teamed up to bring you gift plans every Friday until Christmas as part of our Handbuilt Holiday series and today we have a fabulous bucket shelving system.

So far for this year's series we've shared 8 awesome gift builds with free plans and today is another gift idea that's sure to please.

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DIY Glossy Three Drawer Dresser

Shiny, glossy and almost lacquer-like this painted three drawer dresser is complete!  Would you believe this high gloss finish was achieved using a water based brush-on paint?   It's true folks.

Americana Decor Maxx Gloss for the win.

I used this beautiful Caribbean Sea blue color for the drawer fronts and White China on the dresser body: 

To achieve this amazing finish first select a piece of furniture.  I built this three drawer dresser from scratch (and will share the plans soon!) so my wood was unfinished.

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DIY Fishing Game

Today is the last gift plan for this year's Handbuilt Holiday series with Ana White and we have a super simple and easy to make diy fishing game for you.  I hope you've enjoyed seeing all the gift ideas over the past 12 weeks, it's been a joy to build each and every one and today's plan is no exception.

We still have 6 good building days left and I guarantee this fishing game will only take a few hours to complete.  Make a long box and cut out a few fish then you're good to go!

The box stores all the pieces because we know toys work best when everything is contained and stored together.  (How many times have your kids received a toy with a bazillion pieces and no storage container?!  Makes you want to pull your hair out.)  I also made a lid for the box using 1/4" plywood and applied adhesive backed velcro to keep the lid in place.

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