homemade christmas - katie's candle holder.

This was somewhat of a last-minute idea, but I love the way it turned out. Like a lot of my other Christmas gifts, I was in the middle of a lot of them at the same time, so I really didn't take time to take before or in-process photos.

Inspiration for this project came from these Harvest Blocks from Just Between Friends.

(Source: Just Between Friends)

I used a leftover 4x4 from Victor's workshop (its wonderful having a friend who gives you his scrap pieces of wood). Most 4x4s are for outside use and salt-treated, but once they're stained, you really can't tell. All but one of the sides had some leftover glue, so I (mostly) sanded that down (I got a little lazy on the back side and bottom that I knew wouldn't be displayed).

I marked evenly spaced holes in the top and drilled them using a spade bit. I just eyeballed the correct depth for each one, stopping to measure as I went. Some went more easily than others.

Then, I stained the entire thing (except the bottom, again, getting a little lazy). Once the stain was dry, I added the quote I wanted (using the method described here). I absolutely love this - and I'm definitely thinking I'm going to make another for me!

I added a coat of spray polyurethane once the entire thing was dry.

Here's the final product on Katie's table:

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