Waste not!

[Silent Knight]

I'm not sure if this belongs here but I did build them, sort of, so here goes... I started doing this a few years ago when I happened to get a tree to tall to fit in my house and I didn't want to waste a tree, now I buy trees to tall for this expressed purpose. I use the rest of the trunk to create candle holders for our outside patio tables. They look and smell great when you go outside and they last all winter. I haven't taken pics of them in the past that I know of but here are this years creations.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a148/daboes/DSC_0323.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a148/daboes/DSC_0324.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a148/daboes/DSC_0325.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a148/daboes/DSC_0326.jpg

I'm giving the red one to a friend I met on the Halloween Forum

Merry Christmas All

[Sickie Ickie]

Hey! Those look great!

Make a how-to and send your link to SantasProjects.com I'll put it thru immediately. :)

[Mistress Muffy]

Silent Knight...those are just beautiful!

Muf

[JingleBalls]

Silent Knight, That is an ingenious idea for a candle holder.

Hey Sickie, you post monger you.

[Mr. Christmas]

thats a great idea...keep the post going

[Mummy deer-est]

Love it! Those could be sold in stores!

[putrid]

Dude that's totally COOL. The real evergreen branches really sets them off. Great work Silent Knight.

[Silent Knight]

Thanks everyone for all the kind words they are very simple to make provided you have the right tools and a little imagination. some of the tools I used are a 16" Miter saw, a saw-zall, a drill/screw gun, and a wire stapler. Most of these tools I have as result of being a carpenter and I realized most people don't have some of them but a decent tree saw should work, also I have used a regular staple gun to attached the branches to the trunk. The style is up to you, there are quite a few ways to decorate the trunk, you can use sprigs from the extra tree branches and staple them around the bottom to make it look like it's in a wreath, or staple them up the back of trunk to give it a peacock appearance. There are no rules cut the trunk on an angle or leave it straight cut it doesn't matter, nothing even say it has to stand vertically, maybe lay it down and drill three or more holes for candles it's all up to you. Decorating them just requires a little imagination, I've use ribbon, pine cones, ornaments, and even battery operated lights, anything you'd like, just have fun with it!

[Sickie Ickie]

Silent Knight, That is an ingenious idea for a candle holder.

Hey Sickie, you post monger you.


The Monger of Merry Mirth! LOL

SK, do you have a free website or something to link to? :)

[Blinky]

They are Beautiful SK and i bet they smell Great !!

[thehoghunter]

SK, what a great idea!

Very beautifully decorated - a great center piece.
Is there any issue with the diagonal cut when the candle is burning with wax running down? Or with the boughs drying out? How about the sap getting sticky to what ever you put it down on (or do you have some plate or something under there)?

[Nancj]

Simply festive!! what agreat idea. Thank you for sharing.

[Silent Knight]

Thank you again everyone, I thought I'd address some of the issues/questions raised though. As for the sap, yes I usually put a paper plate under the stump as a protective barrier but this year I decided to use some of those plastic chargers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charger_%28table_setting%29) you see at some dollar stores to add a fancier touch. I actually drill holes through the charger and screwed the trunk to it before decorating. Since I've been doing this(about 5yrs) I've never had the boughs or the trunk dry out, it stays fresh all winter, again I only use these outside. The angle of the cut is minimal and shouldn't cause any problems that I foresee, but never having actually lit these I'm not 100% positive. Maybe come spring I'll light one to check it out, but for now they just remain decorative.

[bethene]

what a ingenious idea, we always have to cut quite a bit off our tree, what a great thing to use the excess wood for, they are very pretty too!