Celebrate the holidays German-style with this modern DIY pedestal Advent wreath made of upcycled materials.

This year, I’m obsessed with Advent wreaths. This German tradition from my childhood has me all nostalgic to count the weeks leading up to Christmas. I cannot. get. enough. of how pretty they are. There’s something so magical about candles and greenery in the wintertime, isn’t there?

Obviously I had to turn my obsession into reality, but of course, I wanted it to be something a little different. Sometimes a fledgling idea bounces around for a while before becoming fully formed. That’s how it was for me when I saw the baking soda and paint technique everyone’s been using to transform ugly vases.

I pinned loads of projects using baking soda, mulling over how I could make it my own, and then finally when I saw this Advent wreath bowl at H&M, lightning struck and I knew what to do!

I love the modern Scandinavian look of this pedestal bowl, and you would never guess it was made from — two plastic takeout containers! Just glue and spackle turn recycled plastic into an elegant vessel to display during the holidays. The baking soda paint trick adds pretty texture, making the final piece look like it’s made of stoneware.

Add a few foraged sprigs of pine and just like that, I’m ready to celebrate the holidays (just in time for Thanksgiving, haha).

Ready to make your own DIY pedestal Advent wreath? Keep reading for the materials and steps!

DIY Pedestal Advent Wreath

Skill Level: Easy

Time: About 8 hours total due to drying times (more like 3 hours active time)

WHAT YOU NEED:

+ shallow plastic bowl

+ round takeout container

*Don’t have any takeout containers? Hit up your local thrift shop to find two bowls that you can use for a similar shape!

+ 4 copper caps from the plumbing aisle (bring one of your candles so you know it fits)

+ strong glue like E6000

+ lightweight spackle compound

+ fine sandpaper

+ paint and brushes

+ baking soda

+ 4 taper candles

+ greenery for decorating

WHAT YOU DO:

Surprise! I didn’t take any step-by-step photos for this one. Instead, I made a reel for Instagram. I’m still figuring out how to do both photos and video for a project at the same time; why humans don’t have 4 arms, I’ll never know.

Check out the video and my instructions below, and if you have any questions, hit me up in the comments or message me on Instagram!

Step 1: Using a strong clear glue, glue the round takeout container to the bottom of the shallow bowl. Allow to dry completely.

Step 2: Glue the 4 copper caps into the shallow bowl at 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock, and 9 o’clock. Allow to dry completely (I’m gonna be saying that a lot).

Step 3: Using a small trowel or your fingers, cover the outside of the bowl in spackling compound. This covers up any texture on the original bowls, and will give the final piece a more hand-thrown look. Allow to dry completely.

Step 4: While the spackle is drying, flip the bowl right side up and paint the inside of the bowl with a layer of white craft paint, to help prime it. (My original bowl was black, so this was especially important to cover the color). I left the inside of the copper caps plain, you know how I love me some copper…

Step 5: (not shown) Lightly sand the spackled surfaces to make them more even. You want to get rid of any tall peaks of spackle, but leave the overall texture. Wipe down with a clean paper towel to remove any dust.

Step 6: Mix 1 tablespoon of baking soda into 1 cup of paint, then paint the entire inside and outside of the bowl. As you can see in the video, I wasn’t happy with my first choice of paint color, so I re-painted the whole thing! Let dry completely, then add a second layer of the baking soda paint mixture.

And that’s it! Style with some greenery (foraged if you can), add your taper candles, and you are ready for a German-style holiday. I can’t wait to light each candle in the weeks leading up to Christmas, the warm glow is just the coziest.

Look at all that yummy “stoneware” texture…

What holiday traditions are you excited to celebrate this year? Is crafting/DIY a part of them?