Block Tealight Holder

Used pallets can be found almost everywhere. The wood for these tealights blocks started out as runners of a heavy duty pallet that coils of steel came on. Factories receive materials on pallets and then often have to pay to get rid of them. If you see some pallets you want just ask. As you load pallet for transport, always wear gloves to protect yourself from splinters.

The material I wrapped around the blocks is upholstery webbing. The only other thing you need is some felt or other fabric for the bottom of the blocks to prevent scratching furniture surfaces.

TOOLS (the ones I used but adapt to what you have)

Table saw

Planer

Disc sander

Electric drill

1-1/2" spade drill bit

pencil

scissors

MATERIALS

Wood blocks 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" x 3-1/2" and 6-1/2"

Upholstery webbing 2" and 3-1/2" wide

Wood glue

Wax paper

Books or other weighs

Stain, varnish, etc. (optional)

Plain or sand your wooden runners to smooth and remove stains, printing or other things you don't want. A section of construction 4" x 4" is also shown above. Determine how tall you want your blocks to be and cut them to length.

I used a sanding disc to slightly round all of the edges. A rasp and sandpaper will work also. Varnish or stain as you wish. I left mine as bare wood.

Mark the centers of one end of the blocks. Determine how deep you want the recesses for the tealights and drill them using the 1-1/2" spade bit. Use sandpaper to remove any rough edges.

Decide where you want the webbing to be located on the block. To keep the glue away from the top and bottom edges of the webbing I drew lines 1/4" in from each edge. By keeping the glue between the lines none would show outside of the webbing. I started the glue in the middle of one side and pressed the webbing into it. To prevent any glue from possibly sticking to the books I was using to weight down the webbing, I placed wax paper on the webbing with the books on top of it.

After a hour or so to let the glue cure, I rotated the block and glued the webbing to another side of the block. This was repeated until I got to the last side. You can either cut the webbing to abut the glued end or just overlap it a little.

The last step is to glue a piece of felt to the bottom of the block.

Now just drop in the tealights and light them up to bring a gentle glow to a dark evening.