I shared with you in the recent past that I bought a drill press!  Well, I have been putting that drill press and miter saw to work again. And this time, I have to say that I have totally outdone myself.  How could that possibly have happened you wonder?  Hold on.

Our neighbor Jimmy works at the local tree farm.  His wife Nikki wanted some new pillows.  I needed some trees. So just like an old fashioned trading post, we traded some white birch trees for some red geometric patterned pillow covers.  Win-Win.

At the tree farm, they periodically thin sections of trees to encourage the best and strongest trees to thrive. These reduced trees are then recycled into mulch and used at the farm greenhouse. Jimmy rescued these trees so I could repurpose them into candle holders.  He dropped them off the other day.  He even cut off the twiggy branches that I don’t need. What a guy!

Each tree was between 2-3 inches in diameter. A few in the 3 1/2 to 4 inch range. My next step was to simply cut them into 2, 4 and 6 inch heights and set them aside to dry.

My drying time frame wasn’t exactly scientific.  I moved on to other projects and when those were completed, maybe two weeks?, I returned to the drill press to complete the candle holders.

Each birch holder has a spot drilled in big enough to insert a tea size candle. They fit snuggly down into the wood, and are replaceable.

Each and every candle holder is unique to the section of branch it came from.  No two sets are alike. They are not polished or disturbed in any way, giving them a true rustic appearance.

Fall decorating anyone?

Winter decorating?

I could go on and on….one simple set of candle holders and so many options.