Cool green displays can double as home decor

I was making some new displays today for my booth at this year's Craftstravaganza, and thought it might be worth sharing because I could see these things being used in someone's home as well. I wanted to get a tiered counter top basket display to hold my loose beads for people to dig through, much like this display. But, then I thought to myself, silly me...why should I waste any of my precious margin on a stock fixture like this? I mean, I AM an experienced retail fixture designer after all, and the business that I am designing these displays for is all about repurposing old stuff.



So, after recovering from my momentary lack of judgement, off to the thrift store I went! In one stop at Saver's, I found some heavy brass candlesticks in varying heights for the tiered effect, and three sizes of baskets. ( I also found a miniature mailbox that I will paint and use in my display, going with the junk mail theme of my work.) All of these items cost me about $10-$12. (Most thrift stores have an entire aisle of candlesticks and at LEAST an aisle of baskets.)



So, here is what you need to know to do this fun DIY project:
STEP 1: Glue candlestick to basket.
STEP 2: Spray paint the whole thing.

DONE! What a simple project. I could totally see these being used on a dining room table to hold some fruit, a plant, some potpourri, or a grouping of candles. You could even use something else in place of a basket, like a pan, plate, or bowl. The possibilities are endless. I went for wicker so the base would weigh much more than the top, keeping them stable when shoppers dig through the beads. I was hoping to find a candeabra with several arms on one base, but I think these worked out nicely and still gave me the tiered effect with the flexibility of arranging them however I please:



For what shipping alone would have cost me for that stock fixture, I made something unique and totally within my Junk Mail Gems brand...not to mention a cool item to use in my house and a great DIY project to share with you!