Can I Paint An Old Christmas Tree Stand?

Yes! I Did it With Rustoleum Multi-Surface Paint

Last year I found Rustoleum Multi-Surface paint. It is sooo easy to use and gives such a beautiful result - regardless of the surface being painted. Best not to be around when I have a can in my hands. :-) Just about any household item can be repainted including a metal or ceramic lamp base, the inside surface of a clear glass vase, wood figurines etc. I painted my plastic rotating live Christmas tree stand so that it would look better with a teal silk Christmas tree skirt. Here is a photo of the original color of the stand:

Thanks to the generosity of my beloved god-daughter, my Christmas trees are usually live. I was concerned about the effect of water on the painted rotating, live Christmas tree stand but I need not have been. Once the paint cured, the stand was impervious to water.

The painted finish is actually a good bit darker than the photo. I used Dark Turquoise which turned out to be a rich-looking teal (blue-ish green.) Standing on top of the tree skirt it looks more decorative and blends into my color scheme. The true color can be seen in the photo below.

   

Yes, you can paint a plastic Christmas tree stand.  Just make sure you select a paint suitable for that application. I get the best results with Rustoleum spray paints. Their Universal All Surface Spray Paint is available in beautiful colors including metallic silver and gold. So if you are wondering what can be done to spruce up that ugly-but-still-usable plastic, metal or wood Christmas tree stand you've had for years the answer is - paint it! Nowadays, there ain't nothing you can't paint. (grammatically incorrect, but still true! :-)

Update: you can paint a metal stand as well...this one was a faded red cast iron-picked up on eBay for $27. The bolts were bent but otherwise it was in great condition. eBay has a wide variety of cast iron Christmas tree stands some of which will accommodate the pole of an artificial tree. The older stands will need to be lightly sanded before repainting. If you need to replace the bolts, make sure the replacements are threaded all the way up -  no shoulder.

   

 Image 1: original red cast iron stand;  Image 2: tree in original red cast iron stand;

Two coats of Rustoleum Metallic Turquoise (on the outside only) and it looks brand new. Thinking I might dry brush high spots on the stand with gold metallic paint to glam it up a bit more. :-)

             

Image 1: painted cast iron stand; Image 2: tree in metallic turquoise painted stand.

So, this year I decided to follow through on the idea to brush the high points on the stand with gold paint. I found the burgundy and gold enamel paints from a seller (BaLLzanos Hobby Warehouse ) on eBay. We only needed a small jar - like those used by folks who paint  model cars and railroads. Clean-up was easy using acetone.  To get into all of the crevices, I used a brush with only a few hairs on its tip. Following is the result.:

       

I removed the old bent bolts on the original stand by holding a pair of pliers firmly on the flat sides of the nut, inserting a screwdriver into the open end of the eye bolt and twisting until it was loosened. I then replaced them with new bolts from the John Wright website (https://jwright.com/product/metric-replacement-tree-stand-hardware/)  and attached the new nuts. Their kit includes fully threaded brass metric (8mm) and standard (5/16") eye bolts with the metal nut endcaps for less than $20 with shipping.  Money well spent. 

Here's a pic of the completed stand with new brass bolts and endcaps:

   with each bolt fully extended the center space was 2"

I am excited for the coming holiday season; to finally be able to enjoy it under a decorated Christmas tree. :-) I will post it later this year.

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