Scavenger Chic

Aging a Galvanized Napkin Holder

• By Joan
• March 8, 2023
• 2 Comments

Aging a Galvanized Napkin Holder

Above you’ll see one of my latest thrift store finds, a very nice and shiny galvanized metal napkin holder. It’s simple, it’s plain, it does what it is supposed to do, hold napkins, and at $2.50 it made it’s way into my shopping cart and followed me home.

If you like this napkin holder and haven’t found one at a thrift store, Amazon has similar ones for sale here and here.

For my purposes the napkin holder was far too shiny and new looking.  I’m thinking aged farmhouse.

I have aged galvanized metal before on a bucket attached to an old barrel slat so I know that it’s quite an easy process. 

To age galvanized metal, wrap the metal with a rag soaked in apple cider vinegar and let sit.  

note:  I didn’t know how the vinegar would react with the stainless steel sink, so to be on the safe side it’s elevated on a glass dish.

At the end of the day I wasn’t quite satisfied with the amount of aging on the galvanized metal. 

I wrapped him up again and let the napkin holder sit overnight, this time in a plastic bag so the vinegar would not dry out.

Now he’s getting old and yucky looking.

I washed off any remains of the cider vinegar and painted on a coat of black paint mixed with water (about half and half).  Wipe off the excess immediately.

A quick coat of a spray varnish keeps all my rust and yuck intact.  Just the way I like it.

I elevated the napkin holder by adding 4 old wooden knobs to the bottom.

Predrill your holes with a metal drill bit and screw on your feet.

The last thing I wanted to do in taking this perfectly aged napkin holder up to the next level was to wrap the handle in leather.

I’m getting my leather from an old handbag that was in my donate pile.

I started by painting the wooden handle black so it wouldn’t be noticeable underneath the leather.

Pretty sure no one will ever be able to use this purse again.  

On the positive side, I have enough leather for a few more projects. 😀 

Before lacing, drill holes in your leather.  I found that I had to drill holes larger than I thought were needed because they just seemed to close up.  You may need to experiment with your cord to get the right drill bit.

Tie a knot in one end of the lace and start looping. It was easy to leave all the laces loose and then pull them tight at the end.

Yes, I did miss a hole and had to pull the lace back out and have a do-over.

He’s so cute now and definitely giving off those rustic farmhouse vibes.

Until next time, stay inspired.

For those of you not able to find a galvanized napkin holder, or would rather have a wooden napkin holder, I’ll refer you back to these 2 past projects.  The first scrap wood napkin holder is from 2021, and the second from 2017.  Both are great projects for the beginning woodworker.

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