If you’re anything like me, you want your fall decor to be stylish, unique, and cheap. With this DIY project, you can get vintage-looking candle votives just by classing up some soup cans…all for less than $15! You can’t beat that! Using your recyclables in upcycling is a one-two punch of thriftiness.
Now, just image what you’ll buy with the extra savings. If I’m honest, it’s going toward a new pair of boots for fall.
Here’s how to craft the cheap and chic way…
Materials for DIY Vintage-Inspired Votives
- Soup cans (free)
- Burlap Garland 5in wide ($8)
- Lace table cloth from thrift store ($3)
- Glue gun
- Scissors
Total cost: $11
How to Make DIY Vintage-Inspired Votives
A little wrap, a little glue, a little snip and…viola! You’ve added a vintage look to your home decor. I found this project very therapeutic. There’s something about working with textured fabrics that is satisfying…also most like working with power tools. Let’s get to the nitty gritty:
- Cut a length of burlap to wrap around your soup can and glue gun the edges down. Don’t worry if the burlaps is taller than your can. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. You’ll see.
- Cut three or four times into the excess burlap sticking up over the top of your soup can. Be careful not to cut all the way down to the can.
- Fold the excess burlap down into the inside of the can and glue. By folding one flap at a time you avoid unsightly lumps.
- Cut the lace to your taste. How you cut really depends on the pattern in the material. I chose to cut out 2 different flower patterns from my lace because I like things to be coordinated but not be matchy-matchy. The flower patterns were a little bigger than my soup can, but that’s fine. I just folded the edges over.
- Position the lace on the soup can and glue.
- Add candles and bask in the glow of your thrifty crafting skills!
3 Things I Learned From This Project
- It’s okay to cut old fabric. At first I was very hesitant. I had seen some inspiration projects using lace, and I was so drawn to them. However, I just couldn’t bring myself to “ruin” a piece of old material. I got over that, obviously. Because here’s the thing…that lace was sitting around unused before it got a new life in this project. Ah, the beauty of upcycling. It eases my worries about wastefulness.
- There is Zen in this project. Often, stressing about the outcome or techniques in a craft project makes me a bit nervous. Not the case here. I intentionally took time out of a hectic day to make these votives and it de-stressed me right away. I imagine it’s the same feeling people get from coloring. If so, I can understand why it’s all the rage right now.
- Trial and error makes perfect. I cut several different patterns out of my lace before I got the ones I wanted. No biggie. I had a whole table cloth to experiment with. And, in the end I got just what I wanted.