Paint Glassware, Reuse Items to Set a Shimmering New Year’s Eve Table
Ring in 2025 with shine and sparkle by shopping at Goodwill. For just a few dollars, you can upcycle, reuse, and repurpose Goodwill finds to set a table with shimmering style. Pick up items in gold, silver, and black tones, then place them together for an elegant and glamorous look.
Here’s how:
Step 1: Pick up party items at Goodwill
Yes, the clock is counting down until midnight, so don’t waste a minute and get over to your nearby local nonprofit Goodwill store now! Scope out each aisle and every section to see what is available there to give your New Year’s celebration table some pop and pizzazz. Keep an open mind and a keen eye as you look for items to transform for your year-end celebration.
Step 2: Start with table linens (or other found fabric items)
Goodwill often has tablecloths, so look for one in a white, cream, or gray tone. Or do what I did: repurpose a white top bed sheet as your tablecloth then add a curtain panel on top! The queen-sized sheet was folded in half based on the size of my table; you could open yours up to cover your entire dining room or kitchen table. The curtain panel fit nicely on top and had an elegant latticework look to it.
Step 3: Add on some shimmer
Look in the section of your Goodwill store that sells holiday and/or school-related items. You might get very lucky like me and come across a roll of glittery gold netting. A piece was cut from the roll and placed on top of my table “linens” then a child’s black and silver sequined sweater was bunched up and set in the center. Already, the table is sparkle-city!
Step 4: Search for items for your centerpiece
Goodwill has a wide array of items to collect for your table’s centerpiece. I placed a pair of tall, silver metal candle holders upside down on my table because they looked like champagne glasses when positioned that way. I also purchased several candle votives in various sizes since they had matching tones, modern lines, and shiny finishes. Each will proudly hold a small tealight or candle to add a romantic glow to the setting.
Step 5: Upcycle glassware with a celebratory style
You will want to toast 2025 with some sort of bubbly (with alcohol or alcohol-free), so upcycle thrifted champagne and wine glasses.
Confetti glasses
Use a gold-tone paint pen and add confetti to one set. Simply touch your glasses with your pen to leave dots behind to mimic confetti. Design-wise, add more dots to the base, stem, and bottom of the bowl. As you move up toward your glass’s rim, space out your dots and have fewer so it looks like they are fluttering.
Streamers glasses
Enlist your gold-tone paint pen again and draw on curving lines on the bowls of your glassware.
Overlap and free-flow your lines on your glasses to give the appearance of streamers on them.
Follow the same process on your glasses’ stems and bases.
After your lines dry, consider going over some of them to make them a little wider, and add another layer of gold to make the lines pop out.
6. Set each place with style
Put your champagne and wine glasses on the table, then position Goodwill-found water glasses in place, too. I scored when I found a pair with gold rims already on them, making them an elegant addition.
My great-grandmother’s dishes were added, too, given their white color, elegant design, and gold accents. While these have been in my family for many moons, you might consider picking up some plates and other dishware at Goodwill, too, to ensure a lovely look for your table settings.
Also found at Goodwill, a pair of decorative cardboard eyeglasses with “Sip, Sip, Hooray” and “Bling” were added as well to make it feel like a party for two.
7. Include an ice bucket
A small, thrifted side table was positioned nearby to hold an ice bucket and some bubbly. Keeping with the repurposing and reusing theme, the silver metal container is actually a waste basket given a new and elegant role. Silver tasseled balloon weights were placed on the table, too, to add some more festive fun and New Year’s Eve flair.
8. Make a New Year’s Resolution to Reuse, Repurpose, Upcycle and DIY more in 2025
It was so much fun to create this sparkling and shimmering table to welcome in 2025! You, too, can have the joy of rethinking things as you set your intentions for the New Year. Be a good steward of your abundance by shopping at Goodwill early and often while you are also being a good steward of our planet by keeping items out of landfills because you are given them a new life, a new look,and a new purpose—a great metaphor for how you will want your 2025 to be, too.
Thanks to Finding Your Good and Goodwill of Greater Washington for all the remarkable ways you impacted our community in 2024 and for our continued, impactful partnership. Here’s to more joyful transformations in 2025!
Similar Reads:
- DIY: You’re Such an Angel – Bulbs & Bottles Become Festive Décor
- My Goodwill Finds: Decorative Standing Letters as Holiday Decorations!
Tim Kime
Artist, Motivational Speaker, Life Coach
