Magical Crystal Log Lamp

It's a Mossy log with mysterious glowing crystals growing out of it.

It looks amazing and you want it, Trust me.

Making the log base:

• A log, (I used birch, since it's easy to work with, and looks good)
• Miter saw
• Belt Sander (or a hand sander)
• Safety Glasses and a dust mask
• Drill
• X-acto or a craft knife
• 1 1/2 inch forstner bit (size depends on the diameter of your log) (i also use a 1 inch and a 3/4 inch )
• Clamps
• Chisel
• Mallet
• 150g Sandpaper
• Wood Oil (I used Teak Oil)

Making the crystals:

• A few different sizes of square dowel (I cut mine from some scrap pine boards)
• Gloss paint or Varnish
• 350g, 600g Sandpaper
• 1 tube of 100% Silicon
• 2-3 cups Cornstarch
• Mold release
• Casting resin
• Lightner
• Facemask and disposable gloves

Other supplies needed:

• Fake Moss
• Hot glue gun and sticks
• 3 screws
• A light source (I used a small LED light bulb, but you can use LED strips, battery powered lights, fairy lights, ect...)
• Thin piece of wood, acrylic, or sturdy cardboard
• Bandsaw (or any saw really)

The first thing to do is deciding how long you want your lamp to be, I picked 8'', cut it to size with the Miter Saw.

Now, pick which side you want the bottom to be on and use the belt sander to flatten it so it stands firm and steady, you don't want any rolling.

I highly recommend using a belt sander, but mine gave up the ghost just as I started this project so I used a small hand held sander. It worked, so if you don't have a belt sander don't worry, it's just going to take you about 4 times as long.

Next, Clamp your Log down Firmly to the table.

Draw out the shape of the cavity that you want, (here is a good time to decide what type of light you want to use as it has to fit into the hole, if your using a light bulb make sure that it's going to fit in leaving a small gap on the bottom and top. If its battery powered you might want to make sure the battery pack fits inside, although, you can also leave it outside.)

I used a craft knife to remove the first few layers of paper bark

Carving out logs is a bit complicated and there are quite a few ways to go about it, but this is the way I did it and I found that it was surprisingly easy,

Please remember to wear your safety glasses and a dust mask.

Take your drill and a large Forstner Bit, I used the biggest one my drill can handle (1 1/2''), the closer it is to your cavity size the less chisling you will have to do.

Start at the first edge of your cavity and drill almost all the way through, I left about 3/4 of an inch of wood.

Now drill another hole right next to the first, repeat this till your all the way at the end.

Take your chisel and place it flat side away from you on the inside edge of the cavity, firmly tap it with the malet. work your way slowly along one side of the log, go slowly and don't try to take of to much wood at a time.

Once you have one side smooth turn to log over and do the other side.

Now you can use sandpaper to smooth the side out even more, but don't spend to much time on it as its all going to be hidden in the end.

If you're planning on using a battery powered light with the pack inside your good, just move on to the next step.

But If your using a corded light like me then we have to find a way to get it in so we see the bare minimum of fixture,

You want your bulb to be in the middle of the log, mark of where the end of the bulb fixture goes.

Carefully cut of the outside section of the log with the Miter Saw.

Add two or three tiny lines so you know what way the section attaches back on. Place cut off section to the side.

Clamp log down vertically and drill a hole large enough to fit the plug through. (I used a 1'' forstner bit)

Set the log flat and mark where you want the cord to go out the back. Drill a small hole right next the the edge and use a chisel or sandpaper to make a grove that is flush with the cord.

Carefully screw the outside back in place, you will want to drill pilot holes as you don't want the slice to break.

I used Teak Oil on all the exposed wood, this step is optional but recommended, as it will help preserve the wood.

Here you are going t make the bored that the crystals will stand on top off, I used a thin piece of scrap wood but you can use anything sturdy that won't let light shine through.

I used the bark that I cut of earlier as a rough guide to the size, then slowly cut it down to shape, it doesn't have to fit too snuggly although you don't want to have any large gaps.

If you cut it too small, you can add one or two small screws to keep it up, (The picture is just for show)

Make sure the light fits in with it on top.

I cut scrap pine boards into three different sizes of squares (1/2'' 3/4'' 1 1/4'')

I recommend a belt sander for the next step, but like I said mine is broken so I can tell you that it is possible to do this without one.

Keep the dowels long to make them easier to work with, using the sander turn the first inch or two of the square into an octagon.

Add random facets to the top, keep the edges sharp and clean.

Once your happy cut your crystal off with the miter or band saw, leaving an inch of extra wood at the base.

Repeat with all the sizes of dowels till you have a good selection of crystals.

Stand the Crystals on a base, you may need to use blue tack or a drop of glue to keep them from falling over. Just remember you will need to get them off again.

Now coat them in the gloss paint or varnish, you want to get them as shiny, smooth as possible. If you need to sand off rough edges take care not to soften the sharp lines.

Keep coating them one thin layer at a time till they are perfectly smooth, I used about 7 coats, you may need more or less.

Let them dry thoroughly, remove from base.

You will need to wear a mask, and gloves, and work in a very well ventilated area

Spread a thick layer of cornstarch out on a protected surface, pump the silicon out on top of it.

Knead them together till you have a firm, only slightly sticky ball, (work fast you have about 5-7 minutes) adding cornstarch as needed.

Press it firmly into a throw away container.

Spray the wooden crystals with mold release and push them into the silicon, try not to go all the way to the bottom as this might make the mold fragile.

Let dry overnight.

Carefully remove the wooden crystals from the mold.

Mix the resin following the instructions for the resin your using.

If you need to know how much you need fill a measuring cup full of water, fill the mold, now you can look at how much water is left in the measuring cup, and figure out how much you used. Remember to let the mold dry thoroughly afterwards.

Spray mold with mold release.

Pour the resin in slowly to avoid making bubbles.

Use a Lightener to pop the bubbles on the surface.

Leave to dry in a warm location overnight, or as directed by your resin.

And definitely don't do like me and knock in over when it's half cured, you will save a lot of time.

Once resin has cured remove from mold, If you have access to it, compressed air works wonders; if you don't, just work them out slowly.

Now hopefully you don't have to do this, but I'm going to include it anyway

Since they fell down halfway through curing, they demolded a bit so the sides are very rough, I used 400g then again with 600g sandpaper to smooth them back down, wet sanding works best for this.

Then I covered them with another thin coating of resin, and let them dry overnight again.

Now you find out how you want to place your crystals, play around with them till your happy, odd numbered clusters look best.

Use the band saw to cut them down to the length you want, and to add slants so they look more natural.

Wet sand the bottoms with the 600g, but you don't need to get it glossy again as the matte bottom will help with light diffusion.

Draw circles on the base, where you want them to go.

Firmly clamp down the wood base, and use the drill to slowly and carefully drill out the holes, I used a 3/4'' Forshner bit and a small drill bit, you don't really need more then two sizes of holes.

Don't worry if your wood breaks you can just use hot glue to glue them back together.

Once you have the holes drilled, use a hot glue gun to glue them down in place.

Once you have the crystals placer the way you want them, use the hot glue to add the moss. Add it a bit at a time, making sure its all attached firmly.

You might need to use something thin like a screwdriver or tweezers to get to moss into small crannies.

Put the crystals into place and add more moss on the surrounding edges, this makes it look more natural and will hide any mistakes you may have made. 

Plug in the light, and add moss around the edges if to much light shows through.

Feel free to add you own special touch, maybe some small flowers or mushrooms' 

Now you can dim the lights and admire your own tiny piece of fairy land!

Just because you know how it was made doesn't make it less magical.

Please share your versions I would love to see them.