My family celebrates Christmas but I am often challenged to create things that are a bit out of the norm for me and I always really love doing it! I had many Jewish friends growing up and learned much about their celebrations. And so as part of this month's partnership with DecoArt, I created this really fun Hanukkah DIY Menorah!
I know that Menorah's can be expensive and so this DIY Menorah is a wonderful way to celebrate Hanukkah even if it isn't in the budget to buy a menorah. I made this one using scrap wood, paint and a drill!
DIY Menorah
To create this DIY Menorah, you will just need a few supplies. We raided our scrap wood pile for two pieces of wood approximately 1" x 3" x 15" and 1" x 4" x 17". Candles, Americana Multi-Surface Paint in Silver Metallic and Deep Turquoise Satin. You will also need a foam brush, wood glue, a drill and 1 ¼" spade drill bit (or the size you need for your candles) and a sander.
Please note that these supplies worked with the candles I used, but you might need to adjust your size of wood and drill but depending on your candle size.
The base of our candles was just under 1 ¼" diameter, so we spaced our holes apart 1" on center. But again you will need to adjust this according to your candles.
We used a spade drill bit carve a bit of a hole for the candles to sit in. You don't need to go too far down, just a small recessed space is perfect.
I sanded my wood and then I painted it. I painted my top piece silver and my bottom piece turquoise. Both colors needed a couple of coats but I love Americana paint as it goes on smooth, even and beautiful.
I attached the two pieces of wood together with wood glue and clamped them together until it set.
I love how simple this DIY Menorah is to create but what a fun impact it can make in your space as you decorate for Hanukkah this year!
This metallic silver paint is amazing! It is shiny and really really fun! And I love how vibrant this deep turquoise is too.
And the whole things came together fairly quickly and cost next to nothing!
If you like this DIY Menorah please pin it!
And check out these other fun winter ideas too:
Jenna
While this is pretty, it doesn't actually function as a menorah for two reasons. One: it isn't "kosher" - the 9th candle in a menorah, known as the Shamash, must be taller than all the other candles. This could of course be remedied by either adding a small block to raise that one higher, but then you have a secondary problem. The Shamash is supposed to light all the other candles. It would be incredibly difficult to do this in jars... also, you are supposed to let it burn out by itself each night (which is why you need 44 candles to light all 8 nights of Chanukah). These might not be safe to burn for as many hours as is necessary to have them burn out themselves.
A menorah is a religious object, and it can be pretty but it still needs to be functional.
Yanki
The shamash in the menorah does not need to light the other candles. Many people have the minhag to use a separate candle for that.
Ashley Phipps
Thank you so much for sharing this. I always appreciate learning more!