onebluestocking: bjds, designs, crafts and assorted nonsense

the kids are getting very excited for christmas so meg has planned 24 days worth of activities to help them wait. tomorrow is the start of advent so she needed to make an advent wreath so the girls could light the candles (no the boys will not be allowed to help, honestly would any sane person let noah or emrys anywhere NEAR fire?)

i know it supposed to be a circular wreath, but she decided a birch log would make a cool option so here goes…

first lay the candles out to decide how long the log should be

before cutting the log i put a couple of rows of hot glue on the bottom and then squished it flat on my silicone sheet, this made it a bit more stable and less likely to roll. i could have cut a piece off the bottom to make it flat instead, but this was easier.

here are the dimensions we used

i marked the candle positions with a tiny x, then drilled the holes using progressively bigger drill bits til the hole fit. working up that way helps keep the birch bark from shattering or the log from splitting. the final size for these (birthday) candles was a 7/32 drill bit.
as you can see the candle rolled on me in spite of the hot glue, and the last hole is a bit wonky, but it doesn’t show if i photograph straight on

here it is with the candles. we couldn’t find the traditional purple and pink, so went with white and silver instead, because it looks nice 😉

next i needed to decorate it

tiny red berries from a potpourri mix, and greenery pulled of a dollar store wreath

cut to size, glued on and it’s done