Repurpose Old Ceiling Fan Blades into a Decorative Airplane

I love a good upcycle (that’s actually what I started this blog to share, back in the day) — especially when it’s something random that would probably be junked, that can be saved and made into something new. Our next Holiday Guest repurposed old ceiling fan blades and some other “junk” into…

an amazing decorative airplane!

Read below for the details of Keri’s upcycled “junk” airplane and keep an eye curbsite for these other things you can upcycle:

books (with no damage to classics!)

old chairs

and of course, old windows (see this here)

Here’s Keri to knock your socks off with her creative skills!

Repurposed Ceiling Fan Blades into an Airplane
by Keri from Repurposing Junkie

Hi! I’m Keri, blogger at Repurposing Junkie. I love repurposing and refinishing different projects. Everything I see takes on a different shape and idea of what it could be. In other words, I see potential in things. Some of my projects include, turning a faucet handle into a towel holder, repurposing a variety of materials into a toilet paper holder, and an early project on the blog- repurposing an electric guitar.

The project I’m sharing with you, Remodelaholics, started out when I took down some ceiling fan blades, from a fixture in our kitchen, and stashed them away waiting for inspiration. It wasn’t until I saw my daughter playing with a toy plane, that I knew those ceiling fan blades were destined to be repurposed into an airplane.

I looked for things that would work together to make an airplane. I found a gutter piece that was perfect for the body of the plane. My husband bent it on one end to make it look like the back of a plane.

A piece from an old antenna was used for the back wing.

A cap from an old chandelier was used for the front of the plane.

This piece of threshold trim was used as the front propeller.

Most of the pieces were painted red.


Two pieces from an old post were used as tires. Another piece of threshold trim was ripped and used to make the landing gear.

Now that I had all the pieces it was time to construct the airplane. I attached the threshold trim to the chandelier cap, using a 1/4″x 2″ bolt and 1/4″ nut, to make the front propeller piece,.

My husband drilled through the back of the gutter, and attached the back wing to the body of the plane, using a bolt and wing nut.

I screwed the wheels to the trim pieces to make the landing gear.

Before the wings could be attached to the body of the plane, I had to drill into the fan blades to make the existing openings 1/4″. I also measured, marked and drilled two more 1/4″ holes on the outer portion of the fan blades.
My husband measured and drilled 4 holes on each side of the gutter for the wing attachment. Four 3/4″ hooks were screwed into the gutter piece on both sides and locked on with a nut. Then a 6″ x 1/4″ bolt was threaded through the inner part of the fan blade, a nut was then screwed on until it reached the bottom of the top blade to keep the bolt in place. A nut and washer were put on the bolt, then the bolt was strung through the hook, then a washer and nut was put on to cap off the upper wing attachment. Another nut and washer was threaded on to the bolt, the bolt was put through the lower hook, and another washer and nut was screwed on to cap off the bottom wing attachment. A nut was put on the bottom of the bolt, then another fan blade was put on the bolt and capped off with another nut. This step was repeated 3 more times until the wings were attached to the body of the plane.
The outer portion of the wing was a bit easier to fasten together. A bolt was put through the top fan blade, a nut was threaded onto the bolt. Another nut was put on the bolt just enough to allow the bottom wing to be put on the bolt. Another nut then screwed on to cap off the outer wing system. This step was repeated 3 more times until the outer portion of the wings were secured.

My husband drilled 1 hole on each side of the gutter. The landing gear was then attached to the body of the plane using a bolt and nut.

Another piece of threshold trim was painted red and fastened onto the top wings, with a bolt and nut system, to act as a brace. A wooden block was placed in the front of the gutter piece to give the body of the plane a little more weight. Then the front propeller piece was hot glued on the front of the gutter.
This project only took a few days and that’s off and on as we had time to work on it (we have 3 little ones and a house remodel underway). The only thing we purchased were the hooks, nuts and bolts and paint, a total of about $15. I also referenced a book, The Color Encyclopedia of Incredible Airplanes by Phil Jarrett.

Here’s the final result:


I love how it turned out!!




We’ll hang the plane from the ceiling in our home, so those fan blades can fly once more.

Thanks for letting me share this repurposing project with you Remodelaholics!! Feel free to stop by and say “Hi” at Repurposing Junkie.

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Keri, thank you so much for sharing with us! Your vision was amazing and it turned out AWESOME!

Remodelaholics, head over to Repurposing Junkie to see more from Keri (including more uses for ceiling fan blades!), and don’t miss her chalk painted upholstered bench!

Want to be featured? Link up here and submit your best project here.

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