by Wendy Scheel | Oct 12, 2015 | DIY, Life
Wow! Wow and Wow!
Good things come in threes.
And this weekend was the jackpot of 3’s.
The first WOW started on Friday night when my Etsy shop stats went crazy! Crazy in a good way. So crazy good that Etsy contacted me that they had noticed a significant spike of views because of a product I have listed.
People were looking at this listing.
These rustic birch candle holders are made by me. People have used them as wedding décor, to make arrangements in their non functioning fireplaces and seasonal décor on shelves and mantels.
This glorious increase in views means that more logs needed to be cut.
This is where my second WOW comes in. My husband Wade and I worked together and accomplished cutting up more logs. Typically we don’t work well together. (Two Type A’s). But we rocked it!
Then I realized that I have never shared how to make these.
So here is the DIY to make these rustic candle holders.
Here’s a supply list:
- Tree branches
- Chain saw
- Chop saw
- Drill press
- Tea lights
First, collect various widths of tree branches.
As I have shared previously, my neighbor brought these over from the tree farm where he works. I selected birch and oak branches that were between 2 and 6 inches wide.
The smaller branches I cut with my chop saw. The larger branches I needed a chain saw to cut them. I have no experience with a chain saw and this was not a weekend I wanted to learn. 🙂 That is where Wade comes in. I think I have introduced my husband before, but if not, this is Wade. Wade this is everyone.
Working together we measured and cut 2,4,6 and 8 inch sections. Okay who am I kidding, I measured, he cut. But just like the chainsaw, we were a well oiled machine.
After cutting the various sized sections, each piece then had a 1.5 inch circle drilled down into it for a tea light to be placed.
It’s that easy. Cut, drill and place a candle on top.
These candle holders are not treated or stained. They are a simple and natural way to decorate your home.
Oh and for the third Wow, it was the weather. To say it was perfect would be an understatement. The opening picture is from our afternoon fishing trip on the lake. Warm breeze, 75 sunny degrees and good fishing.
Wow!
Now go and collect some tree branches and get creative. 🙂
I hope you’ll stop by on Wednesday!
by Wendy Scheel | Sep 30, 2015 | DIY
Yesterday, I woke up crabby. So, I went fabric shopping. 🙂 No more crabby pants. Works every time.
Today, I woke up unmotivated. So, I went to the gym to see Gillian the Body Pump instructor. She can motivate anyone. After said workout, I took my motivated self to Walmart to get some glue and a Dremel tool. I had borrowed a Dremel tool from Jimmy, (Jimmy the neighbor that you met the other day), and I knew I couldn’t shouldn’t keep his Dremel piece, so I went and purchased my own.
While I was at Walmart, I was checking out the cut out letters. Some made of wood, some made of paper mache, and some made out of plastic. I couldn’t quite find what I wanted. I bought some stuff to make my own. I had seen some ideas on Pinterest but of course I tweaked it.
These are the things I bought: Masking tape, gold spray paint and little containers.
I wanted my letters to be short and chunky. So I drew them about 3 inches tall and 2.5 inches wide.
I cut these from a piece of cardboard. I needed two of each letter. I drew the letter once, cut it out, and then traced it so both sides would match.
My intention was to use the little containers as the in-between piece for thickness. I didn’t like how wide I would have to make the letters to use the containers, so I ditched that idea. However, I have branches with a 3/4 inch diameter out in the garage that are too small to make candle holders out of, so I used those instead.
I cut the branches about 2.75 inches long. I placed these between the two cardboard letters.
The masking tape was used to hold everything together. This step was kinda tedious. I don’t do well with tedious, but I persevered. 🙂
The next step was to cut up newspapers and dip them in glue and do a paper mache effect thingee. Back to back tediousness. Changed my mind on that one also.
Instead, I took little pieces of masking tape and put them all over the front.
I remember doing this when I was little. I put small pieces of masking tape all over a glass flower vase. Then we took brown shoe polish and rubbed it all over the tape pieces. The intention was for it to look like leather. Don’t really know why you would want a leather flower vase, but after arranging my Mom’s flower garden tulips in the vase it looked pretty cool. At least that’s what my Mom said. 🙂
Anywho… instead of continuing on the shoe polish vein, I spray painted the letters gold. And let them dry in the breeze.
I couldn’t quite decide where I wanted to use them, so I decorated with them a couple of different ways.
Take a look.
What do you think?
In all honesty, the real reason I didn’t make the newspaper paper mache was that I had forgotten to buy the glue at Walmart. Yep, two things on my list. Glue and Dremel tool. Forgot the glue. 🙂
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