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.