Winter DIY Project: Illuminating Branch Candle Holders

Entry #3226, January 30, 2014

You do not need any special occasion to light a few candles. Candles are very effective in creating a cozy atmosphere and inviting mood. How do you feel if those candles burn in the candleholders made by you? Well, making candleholders at home is one of the easiest winter DIY projects if you just have some basic tools. You can use these candleholders at your home or give them others as gifts.

Winter DIY Project: Illuminating Branch Candle Holders

Tie candles with raffia.

Image via: With a Blast

Materials:

•    Birch, maple, pine, or any other suitable tree branch
•    Miter saw (to cut the branch into sizable pieces)
•    ½–inch reversible drill and spade bit if the wood is hard. Otherwise, use a smaller drill for soft wood like Pine.
•    Tea lights

How to Make:

•    Take a dead tree branch and cut it into some pieces at your required height. To make your collection of candleholders visually interesting, mix up different heights. For example, if you are going to make three holders, take three pieces of eight, six, and 4-inch from the same branch.

Make the hole a bit bigger than the tea light.

Image via: Oleander and Palm

•    You need to make a hole inside each piece, which should be big enough for fitting a tea light. During the drilling, clamp them down with a C-clamp. Make the hole slightly bigger so that the metal casing around the tea light can be easily removed and replaced. Clean the wood dust from the candleholders and insert the tea lights. You can leave them as they are or can seal them.
•    Place one tea light in each of the holders. The advantage of tea lights is that when a candle burns out, you can replace it with another one. Another great option is to use LED fake candles. They will just work fine and you even do not need to change them after using once.

Decorate them with natural elements like moss.

Image via: Makezine

•    The exterior of the branch will be junky and shabby naturally. You can decorate it in different ways. For example, scrape all the rubbish off and smooth the surface by using some sandpaper. Then, apply white or colored craft paint on them with a sponge and do a bit sanding to get a polished effect. Another way to decorate the candleholders is to cover them with some natural elements like mushroom and moss. Using these elements on the exterior will create a lush effect.
•    Tie two or three holders together with some raffia. These candleholders can be changed easily as per holidays or different seasons.

Instead of making a single hole in each branch piece, you can take a bigger branch and drill several holes to use more than one candle.

For more DIY ideas on Stagetecture, click here.