Branch Tealight Candle Holder

Sometimes we may want a natural presenation for a bit of candlelight. This Instructable will help you to create a rustic holder for tealights.

MATERIALS

A fairly straight limb at least 2" in diameter

Tealight candles

Scrap board longer and wider than the limb

Felt and glue (optional)

TOOLS

Table saw with fence

Ruler

Pencil or marker

Electric drill

Screw driver

Wood screws

Drill bit with countersink for screws

1-1/2" spade drill bit

The dimensions used here are for the pieces I made. Adapt yours to whatever size you want or the size of your limb.

Cut a 2-1/2" diameter, fairly straight limb to 12" long. White birch is attractive, if you can find it. Lay the piece on a flat surface to see how any curve would naturally settle the piece. Lightly mark one end of the piece horizontally to indicate where you will cut. This is just to remind you later which way the cut goes. Make marks on the top of the piece at 2", 6", and at 10", centered left to right.

Use a 16-18" long piece of scrap wood to help with the cut. Stand it on its side and lay the limb next to it with the mark on the end of the piece oriented up and down. Mark the up-down center of the limb on the end of the board. Measure this distance. Locate the length center of the board and mark the limb center distance on it. Make two more marks 4" from the center, one towards each end. Drill these for the screws. Countersink the holes to be sure the heads will not extend beyond the surface of the board.

Start the screws so the pointed ends barely protrude from the board. Stand it on its side and lay the limb next to it. Hold the limb and board securely as you use 1-1/4"screws to secure the limb to the board. The screws CANNOT extend to or past the center of the limb as you cut.

You will need to remove the saw guards for this part. Extend the blade up enough to cut through the limb. Stand the board upright on the saw tabletop. Set the fence of the saw so that the blade will cut through the center of the limb. Keeping the board flush with the fence, carefully cut through the limb. One half will fall away loose and the other half will still be screwed to the board. Unscrew the attached half.

At 2", 4", and 10", mark the center line of the limb. Use the spade bit to drill shallow holes in the top of the cut pieces. Use a tealight to determine if you have drilled deep enough. Be careful not to drill too deep, leaving a hole all the way through. Cut and glue felt to the bottom of the pieces if you want.