Since the first time I saw Lucy’s fan blade/table leg dragonflies, I have been dying to make my own.  Today, I will show you how I used ceiling fan blades and spindles for this fun, cheap, and easy to create upcycled decor project.

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SUPPLIES:

Fan blades (I found some at Goodwill and Habitat Restore for just a few dollars)

Table leg or spindles for body (I found a box of these at Habitat Restore and snatched them up, knowing I would find a use for them)

Sandpaper

Lint free cloth

2 hinges per dragonfly

Hardware for eyes and antennae

Paint in colors desired for wings and body

  TUTORIAL:

Lightly sand your fan blades and body (table leg, spindles or whatever you find).  Use a permanent marker to draw the shape you want on your wings.

 

Cut along line with scroll saw or jig saw.  Clamp 2 or more fan blades together to cut more than one wing at a time if you want them all exactly the same.

 

Wipe the debris and dust away from blades with damp cloth.  Let dry and apply coat of gesso or primer.

 

After gesso dried, I painted Martha Stewart Craft Paint satin finish, color Carrot.

I painted haphazardly to let the gesso show through on purpose.  This dragonfly was going for a distressed look.

 

Using Color Box pigment ink, color sweet melon, I stamped over The Crafter’s Workshop Cosmic Bubbles template to create the design on the wings.

I went around the wing edges with the sweet melon ink pad and blended the stamped design into the edges with my finger.

I used my heat tool to dry the pigment ink, then sealed the wings with Mod Podge Clear acrylic sealer.

 

I used Liquitex heavy body acrylic paint in raw umber for the base
coat on one body, dry brushing lime green acrylic paint and aqua acrylic paint randomly for  a distressed feel.   The other body was sprayed with Rustoleum in metallic silver.

 

I used a hinge to join the wings to each other, and to the body.

 

 

 The eyes are drawer pulls on the orange dragonfly, and washers with screws on the blue one.  Leftover antenna strap from my hubby’s stash and craft wire were used for the antennae.

 

 Hang them inside or outside!

What do you think?  Do you have any fan blade repurpose ideas?