This wood spindle craft post shows you how to repurpose old wooden spindles into risers that can be used to display items or hold candles.

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The Back Story

Truth be told, I have had this basket of old wooden spindles sitting in my basement for several years. I know. It took me that long to figure out how to repurpose them.

I liked the natural weather-worn patina on these spindles and I wanted to keep it. I just hadn’t come up with an idea how to use them. Then earlier in the week I decided to do some research on Pinterest to come up with some “Pinspiration”. One of the ideas was to turn old spindles into risers/candle holders.

With fall on the horizon, I thought these little spindles could be repurposed into risers/candle holders that I can use in my booth. I am always looking for items that I can use to ensure there is a good variation of height for items in my booth.

Specifically, I thought these spindles would be great for displaying little pumpkins.

So let me walk you through the steps I followed to create this wood spindle craft.

Wood Spindle Craft

As with any project, the first thing we will need to do is gather our supplies. Let me preface this by saying, I used a chop saw for this project. However, it is not required. You can use a hand saw if you don’t have a chop saw.

• Lot of old spindles
• Chop saw or hand saw
• 2 terracotta saucers for each spindle piece – yes, plant saucers
• MMS milk paint in any color you choose
• Milk Mix EZ
• E6000 glue
• Paint brush
• 150 grit Sandpaper

Excluding drying time for the glue, it took about 2 hours to create this project. Please keep in mind, that E6000 glue needs 24 hours to dry and up to 3 days to completely set.

Step 1- Buy the Terracotta Saucers

The height and width of your spindle will determine the best size saucers for your project. I recommend taking a couple of spindles with you to a store to help you identify the best size saucers for your project.

For this project I used two different size saucers. A larger size of 4 1/4 inch saucers and a smaller size of 3 inch saucers. Each spindle, or spindle section will require 2 saucers.

Terracotta saucers can be found at garden centers, hardware stores and craft stores.

Step 2 – Cut your spindles

I used a chop saw because it was easier, faster and ensures a nice clean and even cut. Also, I wanted to make the spindles in varying heights so I kept 2 spindles full length and cut 1 spindle in half. Finally, each end of the spindle was trimmed.

Be sure to wear safety glasses when you are using the chop saw. You definitely want to protect your eyes.

This is how the spindles looked after being cut.

Step 3 – Paint the Saucers.

Once you have all your saucers in the appropriate sizes, be sure to wash them and remove any stickers or tags. Terracotta is a highly absorbent material so washing the saucers well with water will help with this project.

You can see the two different sized saucers in the photo above. The smaller saucers were used on the shorter spindle pieces and the larger saucers were used on the taller spindles. I covered the work surface with some paper and mixed up the milk paint. I used the color Farmhouse White because it closely matched the existing paint color on the spindles.

The tops and bottoms of the saucers were painted.

It took two full coats of paint on the saucers to create an even and uniform look.

Each coat of paint dries in about 30 minutes but you can use a hair dryer to speed up the process.

Step 4 – Assembly

When the saucers were dry, I gently sanded them on the edges using 150 grit sandpaper. This helped the saucers blend in with the chippy patina of the spindles.

For the base of each spindle, I turned the saucer upside down. For the top of each spindle, I attached the saucers up right. Using a ruler, I found the center of each saucer and then applied a generous amount of E6000. Because terracotta is so porous, be sure to apply a generous amount of the glue.

Now, you have reached the most challenging part of this tutorial. Do not touch or move your new risers/ candle holders. Let them dry for 24 hours. Yikes. I know. It’s a challenge.

End Result

Here is the final result of the wood spindle craft. These little risers can be used to showcase pumpkins! (Hello fall!) They can also be used to hold candles.

You can pin the images below to your Pinterest account that way if you want to try this wood spindle craft in the future, all you need to do is click on the image and you should return to this post.

I love that the chippy character of the spindles was preserved.

This image shows the risers holding some small pumpkins. Of course, we don’t have REAL pumpkins available yet. So, I used some faux pumpkins that I saved from the previous year.

As shown above, you can use these to hold candles. The terracotta saucer is a safe surface. You can add small votives or small candles in glass jars.

I love using these little risers to display pumpkins. I am starting to get excited about the arrival of fall. Even though my favorite season, summer, is coming to an end.

Summary

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