Have you ever looked at something at the thrift store and your eye immediately saw something else? Recently when I saw a fluted metal wall sconce and flipped it upside, what I saw was a beautiful long dress with a cinched waist. The theme this month for the Int'l Bloggers Club is Christmas and my thoughts immediately went to a unique repurposed metal wall sconce Christmas Junk Angel and so it is.

Repurposed Metal Wall Sconce Christmas Junk Angel

This is my second month with the talented ladies of the Int'l Bloggers Club, a group of friends from around the globe who come together every month to share a themed DIY project. Links to my friend's Christmas projects are included at the bottom of this post.

Last month our theme was cotton and I made Christmas Ornament Pillow Covers.

For my junk angel, the only thing I had to purchase was gold wire for the hair and halo. The locket I already had and it holds a special photo of my Mom who we lost a year ago on November 15th.


Can you identify all the vintage elements I used to make the junk angel?


After scouring through the workshop to find other junk items that could work with the fluted metal sconce, these are the items I came up with.

Do you see what I mean now about the metal sconce looking like a full skirt with a cinched waist?


It's like the sconce was waiting to become a Christmas Angel.

Here's what I used to make the Christmas Junk Angel

This post contains affiliate links so you can see what products I used or recommend for this project. At no cost to you, we receive a small commission if you make a purchase.


The spoon pictured above that I had intended on using for a halo was not used.

Here's how I made the Christmas Junk Angel

Metal Sconce Dress With Scrolled Hem

The underside of the sconce when flipped over to make the dress is a dark bronze and to unify the antique gold patina with the rest of the sconce I rubbed Fusion Gold Gilded Paste with a lint-free rag.

Vintage Dresser Pull Angel Wings

In my stash I found the most perfect vintage metal dresser pull to use for the wings. I wired it on with 20 gauge gold wire in such a way that on the front it looks like a necklace.

Art Deco Bakelite Pull Angel Arms

Don't the fluted edges on the Art Deco bakelite pulls remind you of fingers? The amber plastic inserts are missing so I brushed gold gilding paste in the cavity to unify the patina with the angel. Like the wings, they are attached with gold wire.

Gold Metal Napkin Ring Wreath

We'll loosely call this a wreath that she's holding made from a napkin ring. I thought the red stone worked for the holidays. But first I had to lop off the metal ring using a metal blade on my hacksaw and then wired it onto the bakelite arms.

Wood Finial Angel Head

The head was the most challenging part of this angel. If you only knew the silly ideas I came up with for a head and finally settled on a wooden ball finial. But it had a hole in the middle of the face and so I filled it with filler compound and sanded smooth after it dried.

Once that was done the wood needed to look bronze metal like the rest of the angel. First I brushed it with two coats of blackened bronze metallic surfacer. Once that was dry I rubbed gold gilding paste over top with a lint-free rag.

Off with her head

Or rather oversized neck. The painted finial was shortened by slicing the base because otherwise, the head looked much too large.


I apologize for not getting a photo of the next step but basically, I used my power drill and a 1-inch Forstner bit to make a hole in the bottom of the wood finial to fit over the ball on the metal sconce.

Gold Wire Angel Hair

But first, the angel needed some hair so I used a 1/16" drill bit and made holes in her head.


Talk about a crazy hair day! I cut several pieces of wire the same size, curled them around the stem of a screwdriver, dipped the ends in some E6000 glue and stuck them into the predrilled holes.


To attach the head to the metal sconce body I filled the predrilled hole in the wood finial head with hot glue and shoved it over the ball on the sconce.

I made a simple halo with gold wire and stuck it through a hole that was already on the back of the wood finial.


I loosened her wild and crazy wired curls and with a script liner art brush, painted closed eyes and lashes.


And that's how easy it was to turn a metal wall sconce and salvaged junk finds into an adorable Christmas Junk Angel with sentimental value. She's a tall girl and now the challenge is finding a spot to display her during the holidays.

For more holiday inspiration see my DIY Christmas Page.

If you have any questions about my Christmas junk angel, please leave them in the comment section below or press the Contact Me button at the top of the blog to drop me an email. I love hearing from you!




Please join me by pressing the links below to see what Christmas inspired projects my pals in the Int'l Bloggers Club made.