November 29, 2011

DIY Birch Candles

Now that the winter has hit Minnesota, our crazy back yard beyond the fence line is starting to calm down from this:

to more like this:

So I could get back there to do a little exploring without disappearing in a clump of weeds or poison ivy.  Although I did discover these little netties or thistles, and my dry fit shirt will never forgive me.


Looks like I'm going to have to pick off each one by hand. I haven't decided if it is worth it yet.


My little exploration was totally worth it though when I discovered these little treasures.

What?  Not impressed?  Maybe you don't know what you're looking at. This is a stump and a piece of birch that I found already cut and laying on the ground on my own property.  Oh, that is what you saw?  Well aren't you fancy... not even a stump can impress you.

Where you may see old wet logs, I saw beautiful candles holders like I've recently pinned on Pinterest from here.


So I started by cutting my piece to 2 smaller lengths. 


 Yes, mine are a bit more "rustic", so next I gently wiped them with a soft bristle brush to clean them up.  Then after drawing where I wanted my circle to go, I bored out a hole with a 1.5" spade bit.


It was that easy.  I dig out a couple of metal lined tea lights I had on hand, and in about 5 minutes time and zero dollars I had this:


Here's how they look on the full shelf, which I forgot to show you in yesterday's I Kicked The Hubs A$$ Ikea Off post.

Not bad for free, ah-natural art, huh?  I'm still not sure how I feel about actually lighting these, it seems a little dangerous to light a fire on kindling, doesn't it? At least they look good.  

5 comments:

  1. Those look great on that shelf too. If you have any more birch stumps you're looking to get rid of, I'm in the market for our window box.

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  2. They look great!! Totally worth ruining your shirt for! :)

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  3. I wouldn't light them in the middle of an ikea shelf either. What are you doing with the stump? Side table?

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  4. Those are awesome!! I really need to get my Pinterest in shape so that I can start finding things to do with the un-used items around my house!

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  5. Alana- I think I cleared my backyard, but I was finding them all over on a recent walk around the lake near my home, and picked up a couple for my window box as well.

    Morgan- you've outted me on the stump! I hope to tackle that a little later down the road. :)

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