Monday, December 7, 2015

Handmade Holidays Day 1 - A Wooden Spool Menorah

Welcome to Day 1 of Handmade Holidays!  Every day this week, you'll find unique art and craft ideas.    Remember that every post has a giveaway, and all the comments for all the days count!  I'll be picking all the winners after 11AM EST on Saturday, so make sure to check out all the Handmade Holidays posts!

Today, I want to share a handmade menorah. While I created this for our Hanukkah celebration, you can use this tutorial to make your own unique candelabra.  




Supplies:
Wooden spools (You'll need eight of one size, and one that's larger for the Shamas)
Stencil or Stamp- I used my Borders Stencil from Stencil Girl
3/8" hex nuts for the candle cups
Assorted bits and pieces from your stash.



1.  Paint the spools and the wood with the black gesso.  
2.  Stencil patterns on the gold tissue paper.  Then, using a wet paint brush, paint lines to "cut" the tissue paper.  Here's a video tutorial where I did just that.
3,  Use Matte medium to adhere your tissue paper to the wood, making sure to coat under and over the tissue paper.  When it dries, the un-stenciled parts of the tissue paper will become nearly translucent!  In the photo above, it was about 50% dry.


4. Add a bit of gold to your hex nuts and glue them on the tops of your spools using the E6000 or other strong glue.
5.  Glue the spools to the Balsa wood base with the E6000.
6.  Dig out items from your stash.  I added beads, some old keys, and pieces of charms I received at Art is You Mixed Media Retreats.


Hanukkah began on Sunday night.  May the lights we kindle shine peace, love and freedom into the world.


I hope this post gave you some fun ideas.  I am giving away one of my Art is You Trades to a lucky commenter.  



Remember, for extra chances to win, make sure to comment on all the Handmade Holiday posts!  I will pick all of the winners on Saturday morning, 11AM EST. 

Please leave your email address in your comment (like this: jessicasporndesigns at gmail dot com) to be considered for the giveaway!


And the winners are:

Corrine Gilman’s Brooch:  Lou Lou in Texas!  
Art is you Trade:  Suzie Q 23!  
Clay Ornament:  Karen!  
Hamsa Stamp:  Lisa Meyers! 
Three Trees Stencil:  Lu 


Make sure to check back for more projects and giveaways every day this week!

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.


If you don't already, please sign-up for my newsletter HERE, and follow me on Facebook, PinterestBloglovin and YouTube, so that you never miss a giveaway, and always get the latest Jessica Sporn Designs News!  


 Follow on Bloglovin

19 comments:

  1. Love your ideas my friend. Let me know when I should re-direct. xox

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is so cool. When my boys were little we made them out of pasta. lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a really pretty idea for any candle holder. The ideas are endless.

    tlsexton1969 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is really neat!

    Christierweiss at gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a lovely menorah! Your stencil design technique works very well with this, and I learned so much by watching your video of how you use the wet brush to 'cut' the tissue paper. Thanks for sharing!
    louise78130 at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  6. When I first saw this I had no idea it was wooden spools. I have to make a similar one. I am so loving this. Thanks, Jessica!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love the Menorah Jessica. So creative and it turned out just perfect. An heirloom for your family. Thank you for the give-a-ways and Happy Hanukkah.
    suzschultz23@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a gorgeous menorah Jessica! Thanks so much for sharing the step outs.

    ReplyDelete
  9. OMG!! This is a fantastic project!! I am going to start putting found items aside to make this. Happy Hanukkah to you and your family!

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a stunning menorah! I love it. Happy Hanukah to you and your family.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is such a unique idea...looks fabulous.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love this idea!! Thank you for our newest Hanukkah craft tradition. My girls are going to love it!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

If you are entering a GIVEAWAY, please add your email address in the event we need to contact you.

To avoid SPAM, please write it like this:

jessicasporndesigns (at) gmail (dot) com

Thank You!