Intro: Reclaimed Tealight Candle Trio With a Glowing Twist

Using leftover timber i made a 3 piece tealight candle holder set complete with glow in the dark love hearts

STEP 1: Design

i want to make clear that i did not invent this design, i was sent a picture of something similar and asked if i could make some for a friend.

so i wanted to add a few bits,
firstly the original design the love hearts were just hollowed out and left at that, i wanted to fill them with resin dyed blue and with added glow powder.

STEP 2: Things You Will Need

heres what i used for the project:
(most of it was leftovers from work or other projects)

materials -

2x2 planed white wood (pine) left overs from a job.

1:1 ratio clear epoxy resin

1tsp of cobalt blue glow pigment

a few drops of sailboat blue indian ink (alcohol ink whatever its called where you are)

about 30ml of light oak wood dye

a sheet of sticky back black felt

3 tealight candles

sandpaper

Tools -

Handsaw or mitre saw (to cut the lengths, i used a mitre saw to ensure it was a true cut and wouldnt wobble)

pencil

router (or coping saw if you have the time)

orbital sander (or sand paper alone if your up for a spot of tennis elbow)

plastic cup and stirrer for resin

masking tape (in hindsight i would use something better than masking tape as it let some resin soak through and took some sanding to rectify)

Drill
wood drill bit (pilot hole)
forstner bit
(you might be well aware that the forstner bit comes standard at 35mm diameter, whereas tea light candles come standard at 38mm... well i wasnt, so i had to sand the edge of the cut to fit it in but we will get to that :)

STEP 3: Mark the First Cut

Do your best to do a decent half heart here, as if you use the cut to mark the next heart like i did then this one will be the template for the rest of the project.

STEP 4: Cut Out

I first tried this cut with a flat bit in a drill to cut the hole, this wasnt sucessfull as it made a mess as it came out of the other side of the timber.

i then gave my jigsaw a try and the blade drift was ruining the back side of the timber.

so i got the router out and freehanded it up to my lines.

firstly i set the depth of the cut to 10mm and cut out up to my line, then repeated with it set to 20mm 30mm 40mm 50mm.

the second picture is what you will be left with

STEP 5: Mark and Cut the Remainder

To make it as simple as possible to do, i held the first piece i had cut onto the remaining timber.
i wanted the next one to be the middle piece and be taller than the first so i positioned it lower down from the top and marked both the heart and the bottom (so the hearts matched up when they stood up)

then using the first piece again as a template i marked another heart on the opposite side and lower down. This will be to match into the third piece.

using the router i cut these out, then my chopsaw to cut them to the correct height. And then using the middle piece and the lowest heart i marked and cut the 3rd piece until i was left with what is in the final picture.

STEP 6: Mark, Pilot, and Drill Candle Holes

using any form of straight edge mark corner to corner both ways on the top to get your centre point.

then use a drill bit to pilot a hole in the centre (just to help the forstner bit stay relatively central)

finally drill the holes with the forstner bit.
then like me, try a tealight candle in and have a little sulk when it doesnt fit in.

STEP 7: Sanding

After realising my candles wouldnt fit (but wasnt far out) i just used sandpaper and went around the sides of the hole to make it slightly bigger.

hopefully if you have a dog watching you it might be more helpful than mine, she just chewed 2 of my pencils and stole a piece of my sandpaper :)

while you are sanding, its worth giving the rest of the candle holders a quick sanding too.

STEP 8: Fill the Voids (optional)

Firstly, mask 3 of the sides on each timber (leaving 1 side open for pouring of resin)

i used masking tape, it was underpants, soaked through, stuck to the resin, made sanding down afterwards a nightmare.
next time i will use something else, maybe gorilla tape.

Next i measured out some resin (mine is 1:1 ratio resin so i dont have to fart about mixing)

first off i put the resin in a tub, added the glow powder and mixed thoroughly.
next i added the hardener and again stirred well.
i quickly added drops of the ink until i achieved a blue colour i was happy with.
(i wouldnt advise taking too long with this bit as this resin goes off like there is no tomorrow)

then i poured it into the hearts. slightly over poured incase it soaked away anywhere (which it did as mentioned earlier due to the crap tape i used)

then i left it for 24 hours to harden

STEP 9: Sanding

i used rough grit sandpaper on my orbital sander and give the lot a good sanding down (to remove over spill of resin and tape that had fused onto it)

then i worked my way up to finer and finer grit paper to get a smooth finish on each.

STEP 10: Stain and Add Felt Bed for the Candles

I used some leftover light oak wood dye on an old sponge to give them a quick wipe and make them look a bit more old and rustic.

Then i used a leftover sheet of sticky back black felt cut into small circles to cover the bottom of the cut where the candles go (to hide the marks left by the forstner bit)

STEP 11: Test the Glow

The glow powder needs to be exposed to a light source to allow it produce a glow when there is no ambient light.

as it was late when i was finishing up i used my old halogen work site lamp to 'charge it up' for the sake of the picture.

happy with the amount of glow given off from 2 minutes exposure to light.

STEP 12: Finished

That is now completed and ready to be put on a shelf :)

i hope you like it.

competition votes are much appreciated :)