DIY: Window Showcase and Bark Candle Holder

If anyone knows me, they know that I absolutely LOVE making things myself. If I can take something old and re-purpose it or make it into something completely new, I'll do it.

I've been dying to find an old window and turn it into a pretty showcase for some of my favorite things for our new house, so when I realized that the windows in our garage were fairly aged, I took it upon myself to go remove them promptly and (to my husband's surprise) just put up a board for now instead.  (In my defense, the glass was already broken, haha)

Here is the window before:

Here it is after:

It took me a little while to gather all of the little things that I wanted to place in the window (not to mention, the ledge was very small so most things were too large anyway) but once it was finished, I was instantly in love. There are so many personal trinkets and bits of my husband and I's life since we've been dating, married and started a family in this frame.

The photo in the top left pane is of my grandmother and Henry on her birthday right after he was born. In the top middle, the two hearts are made from one of our cards from our reception and a map that we kept from our honeymoon. (I made that rosette, isn't it cool?) The frame in the top right pane holds tickets from our first date, the day we were engaged and many other little events we've attended over the years. The bottom panes hold an 'O' for our last name, a photo of our son as a newborn and a candle and my husband's boutonniere from our wedding.

I would give you a bit of a step-by-step process for creating the window, but really, you just need to find an old frame, clean it up a bit and decorate the way YOU want. Make it personal, the more personal things are, the more dear to the heart they become.

Now THIS I can give you a step-by-step for and it's SOOO easy (next time I'll remember to take photos for each step).

First, go out and find you some bark. Try to find bark that's of the same height and width and also the straightest pieces you can find, it will make putting things together soo much easier.

Next find a can or a jar or something that will withhold the heat of a burning candle. I used a vienna sausage can for this one - you could use an old baby food jar, or if you wanted it to be different heights or sizes, you could use a tuna can, a regular sized can, a mason jar...the possibilities are limitless.

Next you're going to glue the pieces of bark to the outside of the can. Two things here:

 1. Make sure that your bark is at least an inch longer than your can or it's really not going to end up looking very pretty if you can see the edges of your can.

 2. You can use quite a few different types of glue here but I wouldn't reccomend using hot glue if you're going to burn candles in it. The hot glue will reheat and fall off. Some of us (yes, I'm guilty) use certain candle holders just for the look of them rather than actually burning candles in them. If that's the case, hot glue is going to work GREAT for you!

I used Gorilla Glue (I love that stuff) and it worked great.

Before you glue on your pieces, let me suggest gluing on one piece and then fitting the next before you glue anymore. You want to get as close as a fit as possible to avoid huge cracks between the pieces where your wood will be exposed.

So go on...fit and glue!

Once you fit all of your pieces around your can, you can either a) call it finished, throw a candle in it and stick it somewhere where everyone can walk by and love it's diy beauty or b) if you want to fill any little cracks you may have had between your pieces, you can break off tiny pieces of bark and glue them in too.

Either way, you're sure to love your little candle holder. I paired mine with a glass plate, my Mother's Day roses, a ceramic bird and my lace tablecloth as the centerpiece to my dining room table. I'm not ashamed to admit that every time I walk by, I love it a little more and more!