Outdoor Christmas Decor-Snowflakes

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Have you ever bought something and had no idea where it would go or what you would use it for? I feel like this is a common problem with those of us who are thrifters/junkers. I heart junk and a good deal. What is one man’s trash is another’s treasure right? Earlier this year I stumbled upon stair spindles on a local Facebook marketplace page, they were $5 for 9 of them. At the time I had no clue what I would use them for but figured for $5 they needed to come home with me. And I was already getting another item from the same seller so I figured the drive wasn’t wasted. 

It wasn’t until I was at the Haven Conference that I realized what I wanted to use the spindles for. I was lucky enough to be given a spray shelter and spray painter from HomeRight for use at home. (As always all opinions are my own.) I chose the largest spray shelter since I knew we had a lot of trim and doors still left to paint. I was not familiar with their products but I was able to test out the sprayer while I was at Haven. To be honest paint sprayers seriously intimidated me! It was only a couple days after I arrived home from Charleston that my box from HomeRight was waiting for me. I was super excited to get it out and start to play. And well let me say that the shelter and sprayer have been in use in our garage ever since. I’m not sure if my car will get to have it’s space in the garage back or not!

I was also lucky enough to become part of the DecoArt blogger program and used their metallic paint for this project. So today I wanted to share what I created with my spindles, spray painter/shelter and paint: Snowflakes! The perfect idea to add some outdoor Christmas decor.

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Bolting Spindles Together

We first found the center of each spindle and Justin drilled pilot holes before drilling a bigger hole for the bolt to fit through. The reason for the pilot holes was so that the wood didn’t split when drilling the bigger holes. I wanted the bolt in the center and this was also one of the thinnest areas of the spindle to drill through.

The bolts we bought were threaded the entire length of the bolt and we did use washers in between each spindle to secure them a little better.  The bolts were a little longer than the thickness of the three. We (and by we I mean Justin!) used the Sawzall to cut off the ends of the bolts so that they were flush with the nut at the end after I painted them.

Using a Paint Sprayer

This was my second project using my HomeRight paint sprayer when I initially received it I used it to paint some new doors to our pantry (tutorial on that to come!) That way I could get the feel for the paint sprayer and cleaning it myself. I did thin the paint a little with water when I painted the door. The instructions for the paint sprayer instruct you to follow the what the paint itself says on the can.

For the snowflakes, I chose to use the metallic colors because I wanted the shimmer but I also love that it is a matte look that isn’t too glossy. I did lightly sand each spindle just to rough the surface a little.

I don’t know why it took me so long to get a paint sprayer. This HomeRight sprayer is amazing and I love how fast I am able to finish projects that use to take me days because I was using rollers and brushes and hated seeing brush stroke marks. It is a great investment if you will be doing a lot of your own DIY projects.

And clean up is a breeze once you read the directions and tackle it for the first time it becomes less intimidating. I will admit that I accidentally left paint in it overnight and I was able to clean it the next day without any paint drying inside. It is definitely not recommended to do that and I wouldn’t recommend it either but when life happens it was nice to know I hadn’t ruined the whole machine!

Displaying Spindle Snowflakes

In order to hang the snowflakes on the side of the house, Justin drilled a hole in the back of the bottom spindle and then drilled a screw into the siding of the house on our covered porch.

These will make a great addition to our outdoor Christmas decor area on the covered porch.

What is your favorite thing to use at Christmastime outside your home?

Other Posts You May Like:

• DIY Wood Projects for Christmas
• DIY Outdoor Christmas Tree Lights
• Outdoor Christmas Decorating Ideas

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