Let there be Light, Candle Holder, Frugal Home Designs

Hello Everyone, it is Fawn again excited to be here on Remodelaholic. This month I have a Pottery Barn hack for you. I noticed the Wood Block Votive Holder in my new Pottery Barn catalog and thought it would be awesome out on the patio table. It seemed like a pretty easy thing to make. Turns out it was so let’s get started. Here’s what you will need: 4 x4 cut to length (I found mine for 51 Cents in the hull bin at Home Depot) Drill with a spade/flat bit Sand paper Stain Legs First, you need to find the center of your 4 x4 (remember the actual measurement isn’t 4″). You will notice in the picture below that I measured and marked the center. I did this on both ends they used a straight edge to connect the dots. It is a little hard to see, but there is a light pencil line right down the center. Next you have to determine where you want the votive/tea light hole to begin and mark that off. I wanted there to be about an inch and a half on each end. I measured and drew a straight line with my speed square. Here is quick preview to illustrate. Now on to drilling the holes. I used a 1 1/2″ spade drill bit. You will notice in the picture below the spade bit has a point in the middle. I lined that up with the center line I drew in the first step. I am a pretty visual person so this is how I went about spacing out my tea lights. I put my first one lined up with my line I measured for my “edge” then measured one inch-ish from the tea light. I knew I wanted that one inch mark to be the edge of my next tea light so I lined up the drill and went to town. Notice the edge of the drill is at the one inch measurement mark. Then repeat Until you are finished. Time to sand. I used 80 grit first then 220 grit to make it nice and soft. After sanding remove all of the dust. I used Minwax Dark Walnut stain. I have found a lint free rag is the best tool for applying stain. Also, do your self a favor and invest in some rubber gloves–I learned this they hard way. I had some knobs that I got at the Goodwill for 49 cents. They happen to be flat on the bottom so a little dollop of Gorilla Glue later and this lady has legs. Perfect for the patio table, now it goes right over the “bump” for the umbrella opening.
Now I realize those aren’t actual votives. Let me explain. I found some votives that would be perfect for super cheap, but it turns out that they don’t make 2″ spade bits and I didn’t want to have to buy new tools. If you want to use votives larger than 1 1/2 inch you will need a forstner bit. I didn’t want to spend the $20+ so I just switched to tea lights.
My whole project cost $2.50–not bad.
Come on over to Frugal Home Designs to see what else I have been up to.