Flora Candlestick Dupe

Anthropologie is one of my favorite stores to get beautiful decor. I recently fell in love with their Flora Taper Candlestick, but at $38 for each one and I wanted 5, I figured I could make this for less than the $190 it would have cost to buy them. So I made my own! I thought I’d show how to make a Flora candlestick dupe in case you love this look as well.

how to diy a Flora candlestick dupe

Let’s start with the video tutorial so you get an overview on what I did. Then, I’ll dive in with more details below:

If the video doesn’t work here, you can watch it on YouTube here. I’d be over the moon happy if you subscribed to my YouTube channel! Videos are actually released on YouTube first (usually the night before they’re published on the blog). Thank you!

SUPPLIES

Candlesticks or Glass Candlesticks
Card Stock (I used 2 sheets of 12″x12″ card stock to make 5 candlesticks. Go to a craft store to buy a few sheets)
Masking Tape
Flour
Newspaper
Chalk Paint in Fluff (use any paint you have on hand- latex, craft paint, or acrylic paint would all work great as well)

PRICE BREAKDOWN

How much did the Flora candlestick dupe cost?

For this project, I used mostly materials I had on hand- I had 2 candlesticks, card stock, masking tape, flour, and chalk paint. I thrifted some candlesticks and bought newspaper. I spent $8 in supplies for this project.

If you need to buy everything to make this project, it’d be around $20 for 5 candlesticks (less if you thrift them or go to the Dollar Store!), $2 card stock, $4 masking tape, $2 flour, $2 for newspaper and $14 in paint. The total for all the supplies if you don’t have any of them on hand is $44.

THE INSPIRATION

Here is a picture of the original Flora Taper Candlestick. I love the organic shape that also feels very current.

step 1- cut out leaves

Start by cutting out leaves- use card stock. What worked best for me is to draw the outline on the paper and then cut it out. If I liked that size, I’d cut out multiple.

I cut a variety of different sizes. I mostly ended up using smaller sizes- so if in doubt go small! Cut out a bunch of leaves in many sizes.

step 2- attach leaves to candlestick

Next, attach the leaves to the candlesticks with masking tape. Start at the top with smaller leaves and do bigger leaves at the bottom.

Use two pieces of tape per leaf- one on the front and one on the back. Apply the leaves in sets- put one on either side of the candlestick

Right now this looks so dumb- like bandaids. But the next few steps will bring them to life! There’s such magic in paper mâché! It goes from paper and tape to a sculptural object.

step 3- paper mâché

And now, mix up the paper mâché. To make it, use one cup flour and two cups water. Also, if you don’t like the smell of paper mâché like me, add a little cinnamon and it smells lovely! How’s that for a hot tip?!

Mix the flour, water, and cinammon well with a whisk. This makes the paste.

Keep the whisk with the mixture as you work- the flour and water separate easily. The flour is how this will act as paste so it’s important to make sure it’s mixed.

Next, cut up newspaper into strips. I bought my newspaper from the Dollar store and so this was a thrifty way to acquire this element. Though, using newspaper that came in the mail would be even better.

Dip the newspaper into the paper mâché paste and then put it over the candlestick and leaves.

Getting the newspaper to mold over the leaves is a little tricky. I bent the newspaper over the rounded edges. Personally, I liked having a strip of newspaper that attached to the candlestick and then went over the leaf. I ended up ripping most of the strips of newspaper from the last step in half to work nicely.

This is a messy and tedious step. And honestly, it still looks terrible. But it’ll all be worth it! Just wait for drying and paint!

step 4- paint

Finally, after the candlesticks have dried over night they’ll be nice and hard and ready for paint!

For this step I used a creamy white chalk paint that I felt looked most like the original Anthropologie Flora candlestick. I like chalk paint for this since it’s dries with a nice matte finish.

If you don’t have chalk paint on hand, I suggest using any paint you do have. Craft paint, acrylic paint, or latex (wall) paint would work too! If you want a matte finish, just mix it with a bit of baking soda. I have instructions for how to do so on this post.

after Flora candlestick dupe

And here are the finished candlesticks- aren’t they so cute?!

They are un even and quirky and sculptural. I feel like they have personality and I really like that!

Of course, topping them off with rainbow candlesticks didn’t hurt! Aren’t they fun with the rainbow stairs?!

Right now there’s bunch of high end lights made with paper mâché flowers and leaves. This is leading me to believe that I could make one myself. Maybe I’ll try it out! This was a good test run for that.

These were a bit tedious to make, but I would classify this as an easy DIY project. If you can cut leaves with scissors and cover them in newspaper soaked paste, you can do this! I’d say they take 2-3 hours to make plus waiting for drying time over night.

What do you think of the Flora candlestick dupe? Would you try it? Let me know in the comments! Also let me know if you have any questions.