DIY wood and concrete candlestick

So this last week I've been all over everything wooden!

I love the look of wood, it adds an authenticity and warmth to any interior!

So I spent ages trying to figure out what sort of DIY with wood I was going to try out for myself!

In the end, a little and worse-for-wear stump of two-by two that I found in the road (????) on the school run sparked my imagination!

So capturing the trend of mixing materials, I've made this concrete and wood candlestick, and today I'll show you how!

You will need:

2x2" stump of wood

Wood saw

Drill with spade drill bit (size of the diameter of a candle)

Candle

Foam board

Rapid set Concrete or cement

Stanley knife

Tape

Sandpaper

First I sawed my little stump of wood to size, then I Used the spade drillbit to drill a 1cm hole in one end to hold the candle....I also drilled some little holes all around both ends of the wood, so that the concrete has something to grip on to....

Now you may think: Why not just drill a hole in the wood for the candle and leave it like that??

That's nice, but....

There is two reasons why I decided to use concrete to make this candlestick:To capture the trend of mixing materials, but more importantly, to make sure the candlestick would not be a fire hazard! The concrete shields the wood from the flame of the candle!!

SO....

Next up I made a case out of the foam-board that would fit snuggly around the wood:

 I made it about 2" longer than the wood on both ends, and taped it tightly around the wood...

 Then I mixed up some rapid set concrete (cement would also work here!) and poured it in on the bottom half of the wood first....when that had set, I turned it over and did the same on this side.... 

...only this time I set the candle into the wood first, and poured the concrete around it! Then I left it all to set overnight! The next day I removed the foam-board casing, and left to air-dry for a few more hours!

Then I just tickled it with some sandpaper to remove any rough edges....and that's it!

I love the mix of that battered old lump of wood with the concrete "melting" into it... and I am so pleased I managed to give that old stick a new lease of life... The rustic-ness  of the wood is the perfect accompaniment to my Glass and concrete accessories displayed on my living room bookshelf!
I have some more wood based DIY's in mind for the future, but for now I am taking a little holiday, as I am off to Norway for a week! But I am starting to think about Spring....hint hint!!