Candlesticks

I made these candlesticks probably a year ago, but only recently bought candles for them. I decided that using them for Halloween was as good a reason as any to buy cheap candles for them.

Their construction was simple. I bought two different sizes of furniture legs and a square piece of molding from Home Depot. I drilled a hole into the center of the molding to fit the screw that was on the end of the leg. I applied a small amount of glue to the leg and screwed the leg to the molding. After the glue dried, I drilled a series of holes in the end to accommodate the candle. I applied several coats of stain until I was satisfied with the color and put a coat of polyurethane on it to seal it and to keep the wax from sticking.

There were several things I learned from doing these.

1. The molding had a convex center. The drill bit kept slipping off center. I used a nail set to make a divot to then drill into. 
2. I don't have a drill bit or anything that could make a hole for the end of the candle. I drilled one deep (about an inch) pilot hole then went back and drilled multiple holes, starting with a shallow large hole and going smaller the deeper I went. 
3. As the candles started to near the bottom, it occurred to me that these are wood and there wasn't any guard to keep them from burning when the candle got to the bottom. This time, the candle wick fell over into the wax as it neared the end and put itself out. Also, I haven't tried to clean it out yet but the wax has filled the hole. This could be potentially hard to deal with. 
4. Cheap candles drip a lot when in a slight draft (just keep turning the candlestick to get drips on all sides). Really got the look that I wanted.

In the future I may explore other shapes.  I'd like to see if I could make a large floor candelabra but may have to hold off because of the kids.  Maybe I'll try a wall sconce.  In the future, some of these may be made as gifts for friends.