I’m so excited to have Esther Hall (Chung) guest post for me in this week’s Craft Wars round robin!
Esther may look familiar to some of you. She was a contestant in last week’s Alters & Falters episode of Craft Wars, and was my guest in my live recap of the show the night after!
I instantly fell in love with Esther’s candlestick lights that she made as part of her master craft challenge. Not only did I love their look, but I was so impressed that Esther totally thought of them on the fly as she was putting together her wedding photo booth.
Below you’ll find a bit more about Esther, where you can find her online, in her Etsy shop, etc., and then take a peek at her tutorial. You’ll be heading to your local thrift store and hardware store today to gather supplies!
Thanks so much Esther for sharing your how-to! And don’t forget to scroll all the way down to see the other wedding inspired projects from my fellow Craft Wars contestants!
Enjoy,
Nikki, In Stitches
Artist, fashion designer, and Crafter. Hailing from Columbus, Ohio born and raised. Studied Fashion design at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Member of the Columbus Crafty Cotillion and Head Organizer of Craft Alley.
How Esther started crafting:
I’ve had a long history of crafting. I’ve been sewing and crocheting for as long as I can remember. My mom taught me very early to keep me busy when I had to sit in my dad’s office at the junkyard waiting for my mom to finish her errands. I’ve always crafted and idle hands give me anxiety now. If I’m not constantly making in one form or another I do not feel productive. Sewing is my first passion followed by knitting, but I’m a fan of all fiber arts and crafts. Most recently I taught myself shuttle tatting for lace and have gotten back into loom weaving.
Features:
Featured Bride in Rock N’Roll Bride for my DIY wedding
Links:
Candlestick Light How-To
From my recent episode of Craft Wars I was surprised by how much response I got for the candlestick lights that I made on my photo booth which mimicked marquee lighting. Not a lot of detail was shown in the episode so I recreated it so you could DIY!
I picked up this glass candlestick for about $3, spray paint to match the color, the snap in light socket and light bulb. All these materials cost me approximately $13. Everything but the candlestick was bought at a hardware store.
The Snap-in socket light was found in the lighting section by the ceiling fans area where they have the supplies to repair and replace light parts. Also, they can come in a few sizes so make sure you get the one that will fit your candlestick.
The metal on the snaps is pretty strong so you might want to wear some gloves when you are pinching it together to double check that it fits into your candlestick. If you are good to go then the next part is a little addition.
Had I had more time in the show, and knew what I was doing ahead of time instead of making this lighting up on the fly, I would have painted the cord. If you remember on the show, I wrapped the frame of my piece in white fabric (another retrospect: I should have just painted it white). I did that mainly to cover up the running cords of the light extensions. With more time and preparation, I am painting the cord here with a color close to the candlestick color. This will help hide the unsightly cord.
After it dried I used Floral wire and ribbon to tie up the loose cord close to the candlestick to clean it up. You can see how much better it looks with the cord painted the same color as the candlestick.
With my ribbon, I tied it into a half bow. I find that a full bow has the ribbon hanging out over the edge (which I personally do not like). With the half bow it is more streamlined and more neat looking. Also it is easier to control if you would like to hot glue the edges down to conceal it more.
Easy Peasy! There are a few alternatives you could do for your candlestick to hide the cord which don’t involve paint such as using ribbon to cover the cord or embrace that it is there and do something like a chain wrap around the cord!
Thanks again, Esther! I love these! And I am now on the hunt for vintage candlesticks!
Want to see what the other “Veterans of the Crafty War” were inspired to make? Take a peek at their how-to’s!
- Cheryl Burchett (the very first winner of Craft Wars!) created a bridal bouquet using all of the master craft supplies: denim jeans, invitations, baby blankets, and candlesticks.
- Margot Potter’s mixed media keepsake album is inspired by the pop challenge from last week: create a keepsake using locks and keys.
- Pattye Duffner’s creates a wedding wishing tree mobile with simple wooden shapes.
- Angela Daniels whips a little something something special for Tori’s chicken CoCo!
- Andrea Currie celebrates her win last week with a glittered hot glue gun trophy…something every crafter deserves!
- Lisa Fulmer (Andrea’s partner in crafty crime) shares a simple tutorial for a keepsake box, embellished with denim flowers.
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