The HGTV Handmade Thrift Store Challenge: A Unique Project

As the host of HGTV's handmade show, I was excited to participate in the thrift store challenge, where each of us had to visit our local thrift stores and pick up a piece of furniture or home decor item to upcycle into something beautiful. This time around, the challenge was different from usual as we were not given any specific dollar limit, and there were no winners or losers – it was all about creativity and self-expression.

I decided to head to my favorite thrift store in Culver City, which is one of the coolest thrift stores in Los Angeles. The store has a vast collection of items, including clothing, furniture, kitchenware, books, creepy porcelain rabbits, and frog candlesticks. As I browsed through the shelves, I spent a lot of time looking at the dishes and kitchen wear to see if I could figure out how to make something out of those. However, since I had a place to visit after my trip to the thrift store, I couldn't get anything that was too big.

I also thought about getting a picture frame, but I wasn't sure what I would do with it or whether it would fit in with my room's decor. On the other hand, I fell in love with these gold-rimmed goblets – they were gorgeous, but I didn't want to DIY them; I just wanted to own them. As I moved on to lamps and chandeliers, I found a beautiful candlestick that caught my eye, despite its unusual shape and lack of wiring for a lamp. However, instead of using it as a lamp, I thought I could turn it into a jewelry display.

I bought the candlestick for $35 and paired it with a little plate for $3. The plate would become a holder for rings and bracelets. Before starting my project, I assessed the item, noting that the dusty old crystals needed to be removed, especially since two of them were missing. Beyond being dusty, the paint was in decent shape, which I wanted to update to give it a more modern feel. I decided to paint the candlestick.

I began by removing the crystals and the rusty old jump rings from the candlestick. To clean off the crystals, I used a damp cloth, which made them look much better. However, before we could proceed with painting, I cleaned off all of the dust from the candlestick using a damp paper towel. Next, I applied E6000 adhesive to attach the plate onto the top, which was relatively easy.

However, I encountered an issue when trying to attach some S hooks that I had purchased to hold necklaces – they ended up being too big for the holes and wouldn't fit without breaking them by making the holes any bigger. To solve this problem, I used wire that I already had and bent it into hooks, which aren't perfectly even but would work for my purposes once covered in necklaces.

To add a touch of elegance to my jewelry display, I spray-painted all of the hooks gold. Additionally, I spray-painted the candlestick white with a super glossy white paint, which helped give it a modern look. However, after bringing it inside and applying the paint, the base and plate had different shades of white, making the display less harmonious than I had hoped.

To rectify this issue, I applied gold paint to the rim of the plate, which added a touch of elegance but also made the display slightly messy on camera. Nevertheless, when viewed in person, it looked neater. After letting all the paints dry, my jewelry holder was complete. To showcase its functionality, I moved the candlestick onto my desk and filled it with rings and bracelets.

I also untangled some necklaces that had been like that since I moved and hung them on the hooks. Overall, I'm thrilled with how this came out, as it now allows me to display all of my jewelry in one place, which is a great addition to my room's decor. This project was not only fun but also presented an excellent opportunity for creativity.

I'm excited to see how all of the other participants will be upcycling their thrift store pieces throughout the week and hope that it inspires you as well. Please feel free to share your own ideas on how you would have upcycled this type of decorative candlestick in the comments below. Stay tuned, and don't forget to press the thumbs up and subscribe for more content like this.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi everyone welcome back to HGTV handmade this week on handmade is a little different from usual because we are doing the thrift store challenge basically each of us have to go to our own local thrift store and pick up a piece of furniture or a Home Decor item and then upcycle it into something beautiful there's no dollar limit and there are no winners and losers this is just a challenge for us to see how well we can redecorate a pre-owned piece of home decor and maybe give you guys some inspiration to do the same thing so I decided to go to the BTS thrift store which is the same one that Mr Kate Went to in her Mr sister series hi everyone so I am here in Culver City to do the thrift store challenge I'm heading to my favorite thrift store it is so freaking hot out here it's the middle of February and it's like at least 85° it is seriously one of the coolest thrift stores in Los Angeles it is huge they have so much stuff from clothing to Furniture to Kitchen wear to books to creepy porcelain rabbits and frog candlesticks I spent a lot of time looking at the dishes and the kitchen wear to see if I could figure out how to make something out of those also because I was going somewhere after my trip to the thrift store so I couldn't get anything that was too big I also thought about getting a picture frame but I wasn't exactly sure what I would do with that or this grandfather clock which would have been awesome but I don't think my roommate would have been too happy about that I also really loved all of the chandeliers but they were all really expensive and also I do not know how to hang a chandelier I definit had my eye on these gold rimmed goblets how gorgeous are those but I didn't want to DIY them I just wanted to own them and then finally I moved on to lamps and among some very strange lamp faces I found this gorgeous Candlestick at least I think it's a Candlestick there's nowhere to put wiring for a lamp but either way I thought that I could turn it into a really nice jewelry display so I bought this for $35 and then I also got this little plate for $3 and I thought that I would glue it right on top to make a little holder for rings and bracelets you ready to get started let's get started so let's just take a look at what we're starting with obviously these Dusty old crystals have got to go especially since two of them are missing Beyond being Dusty the paint is actually in decent shape but it looks pretty rustic and I want to go for a more modern feel so I will be painting it I just love all of the decorative details though and I think it's a really Unique Piece which is what thrift store shopping is all about so the first step was to remove the crystals and the rusty old jump rings I'm going to throw out the jump rings but once I cleaned off the crystals with a damp cloth they actually looked so much better so I'm definitely going to be saving those for another project so once all of the crystals were taken off it already looked so much better but before we get to painting I just went ahead and cleaned off all of the Dust with a damp paper towel so after that I used E6000 to glue the plate onto the top this was pretty easy I just bent down and looked underneath to try to get it as centered as possible so now to hold the necklaces I bought some S hooks but they ended up being a little bit too big to fit into the holes and I didn't want to break the whole thing by trying to make the holes any bigger so instead I used some wire that I already had and bent it into hooks which aren't completely even but once they're covered in necklaces you won't won't really be able to tell moving outside I spray painted all of the hooks gold because I'm going for a white and gold theme here and then I spray painted the Candlestick white with a super glossy white paint because I want the color to be even all over and I think making it glossy would help it look a little more modern so the paint actually took several coats to cover all of the imperfections and when I brought it inside it didn't actually look great because the base and the plate were completely different shades of white however after letting it dry overnight I guess the paint finished curing and in the morning it looked so good it's really glossy and one uniform shade of white so I'm just really happy with how the paint turned out so then I just reattached all of the hooks which are now gold I'll probably want to replace these at some point with something a little more uniform looking and stronger but the wire will work for now because none of my necklaces are all that heavy and then for one Finishing Touch I used some gold gilding paint on the rim of the plate it looks a little messy on camera but it came out so much neater on the parts where I wasn't leaning around my tripod to do it so after letting the gold paint dry our jewelry holder is finished I moved it onto my desk and loaded up the top with rings and bracelets and then I untangled this mess of necklaces that have been like that since I moved and I hung those up on the hooks so I think this came out so cute and it's so nice to be able to all of my jewelry all in one place it also goes great with these little gold Rin dishes that I got for a do each at the same thrift store I definitely still have a lot of work to do getting my new room decorated and everything in place but I'm so happy with how this came out and it was such a fun challenge so let me know in the comments how would you have upcycled this type of decorative Candlestick or have you ever gone to a thrift store and bought some furniture and repurposed it in some way I'm so excited to see how all of the other girls are going to be upcycling their thrift store pieces all week long so make sure you stay tuned and just a reminder this is not a competition it's just a challenge for us and hopefully you guys can get some inspiration out of it too so if you liked the video don't forget press the thumbs up and also click subscribe and I will see you all next week bye everyone\n"