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A DIY Rustic Cut Branch Table Centerpiece Idea

close up of a short tree branch with a tea light and white velvet ribbon tied around the middle.
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It’s Pinterest Challenge Day!  Woo hoo!  This month we challenged ourselves to recreate the inspiration photo and kept in mind our style and what worked best for us.  I decided to do a DIY rustic cut branch table centerpiece idea.  It was super easy and with only a small change, it will be perfect for the holidays too. 

PC graphic in green and orange

If you’ve hopped over from Decor To Adore, welcome, I’m glad you’re here!  Hopefully you can stay a while and find lots of other inspiration from my blog.  I love all things home decorating.  Especially on a budget.

A DIY Rustic Cut Branch Table Centerpiece Idea

several white birchwood logs with tea lights and greenery as a centerpiece on table

The inspiration photo above came from Jeanne at Cozy, Stylish & Chic.  She crated a pretty table centerpiece using Birchwood.  My only problem is that we don’t have those trees around where I live.  Trying to figure out what I could do instead, here’s what I saw and decided to incorporate.

  • Cut wood branches from the yard 
  • Tealights
  • Greenery around the base of log pieces
  • And then figure out how to add more white to the cut branches

collage of steps to make wood candle holder centerpieceSteps to making the rustic cut branch candle holder centerpiece

Of course you can make these by yourself unless the dude in your life is particular when lending out his tools.  But here’s what you’ll need.  A circular saw, a drill, a 1-1/2″ woodboring spade drill bit (that is the diameter of a tealight) and a Dremel (totally optional).

unlit rustic log candle holder with white ribbon around the middle

Step One:  The Mister went out back, picked up a pine branch and used the circular saw to cut 5 pieces to the sizes I requested.  Roughly 4″, 5-1/2″, 6-1/2″, 8″ and 10″.  I always prefer to use an odd number for groupings of anything.

Step Two:  He used the woodboring spade drill bit to make the hole for the tealight.  You can eyeball it to find the center or you can measure to get the middle.  My motto is always “good enough” so you know we eyeballed it.  😉

Our particular branch didn’t have any bark left on it.  If it had, I would have used a flathead screwdriver to chip it off.  That is just a personal preference.  I didn’t want any hidden bugs.  Especially since they are on an inside table.

That’s it folks!  Seriously so easy!

grouping of log candles with white ribbon and tea lights

I love the warm color of the pine branch but since the inspiration photo was of birchwood, which was basically white, I added white velvet ribbon that was adhered with double sided tape.  Hot glue would have worked too.

They are fairly smooth and easy to work with.  So if you wanted to paint the outside white, that’s easily done.  The paint will soak into the wood so plan for multiple coats.

You could also buy birchwood scrapbook paper and simply wrap it around your log pieces.  I did that years ago (so if you click over, no laughing) with some chipped candles and they turned out great!

grouping of log candlesticks with tea lights as a centerpiece during evening

I have a short piece of faux boxwood garland I was able to weave in between the logs to mimic the greenery Jeanne used.  And during the evening it was so nice to see everything together with the candles lit.

5 logs standing with tea lights as a centerpiece on a tableRustic Cut Branch Table Centerpiece

Seasonal Ideas:

It’s super easy to switch things up for a seasonal look.  I added orange tea lights for fall and removed the white ribbon.  You could always add autumn colored ribbon, jute twine, or grapevine around the middle too.

For Christmas you could switch the faux boxwood greenery with cedar or fir stems and add a few pinecones or berries.  That would look amazing!  And what about red or green tealights?  Green or red velvet ribbon too.

Ooo, what about doing an all green, black and white centerpiece?  Black ribbon around the middle of the cut wood pieces would look stunning.  The juxtaposition between the rustic wood and the elegant ribbon is right up my alley.

close up of a short tree branch with a tea light and white velvet ribbon tied around the middle.

I hope you can see how using one inspiration photo found on Pinterest and changing it just a teeny bit to fit your own home decorating style is easy and very doable.  If you have any questions, just ask, I’m happy to help.  

Now it’s time to look at DIY Beautify to see what she did.  Then don’t forget to check out the rest of what my friends came up with.  Each one is fabulous!

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23 Comments

  1. laura
    October 22, 2024 / 7:29 am

    this looks great cindy! Pinned!

    • October 22, 2024 / 2:49 pm

      Thank you so much Laura! How are you?!

  2. October 22, 2024 / 9:15 am

    Ooo I’m loving the look of the pine instead of birch! I’m also admiring the white ribbon, which is such an elegant addition. So smart to use tape so you can change it up on a whim. So pretty Cindy! Pinning!

    • October 22, 2024 / 2:50 pm

      I love that ribbon and have it in all the sizes and in all the colors! LOL. I know a lot of us are drawn to it. It’s beautiful. Thanks for the pin and sweet comment.

  3. October 22, 2024 / 9:26 am

    Love the idea of wrapping the branches! It adds another level of visual texture. Thank you so much for hosting! I will be featuring one of the images on my IG stories.

    • October 22, 2024 / 2:51 pm

      Thank you Laura. I didn’t want to paint them because my family thinks I have to many things in white already. :/

  4. Marlene
    October 22, 2024 / 2:07 pm

    I love your pretty centerpiece. Your ideas and ways to change it up are wonderful. Thanks for the inspiration.

    • October 22, 2024 / 2:51 pm

      Thank you Marlene. I’ve been lighting the candles every day. It’s so nice!

  5. October 22, 2024 / 2:14 pm

    Love the idea of wrapping them with fabric or ribbon to switch things up seasonally. Having a grouping of these are a great flexible decor item to have handy. I’m cracking up…guess I don’t worry about bugs; I have enough in this old farmhouse already…we cohabitate pretty easily;)

    • October 22, 2024 / 2:55 pm

      Oh my, there will be no cohabitating around here! I’ve brought in a few in my day and they seem to duplicate quickly so I’ve trained myself to check or soak things in bleach or some other concoction. I can’t do it!
      I like being able to use things all year round. I could probably open my own ribbon store by now. :0 Thanks bunches Lora!

  6. October 23, 2024 / 1:12 pm

    Your wood branch candles turned out so good Cindy! I love the white velvet, adds such a warm touch! These will be great to display all the way through winter! Pinned.

    • October 24, 2024 / 3:57 pm

      I thought so too and I was surprised at how easy they were to make. The mister did them all in less than 10 min. Thanks so much Cindy!

  7. October 25, 2024 / 9:07 am

    Cindy
    Your candleholders turned out so cute. I love the ribbon addition.

    • October 25, 2024 / 4:50 pm

      Thanks so much Rachel. I seem to add ribbon to most things around here. I think Hobby Lobby knows me by name now in the fabric department. LOL

  8. October 25, 2024 / 12:01 pm

    You make it look so easy! I would love to do this for our dining room centerpiece. Maybe I can convince my husband to help me this weekend haha.

    • October 25, 2024 / 4:58 pm

      I promise it was easy! Hope you get to make some too. Thank you Jackie.

  9. October 26, 2024 / 12:16 pm

    Amazing, would have to get my SIL to make me some
    Thank you for popping over and for participating and sharing at SSPS 333. See you again next week at #334

    • October 28, 2024 / 10:32 pm

      I light ours all the time. We love them. Hope you do too! Thank you.

    • October 28, 2024 / 10:32 pm

      Oh wow, thank you! What an honor. I appreciate it so much. Have a great week!

  10. November 4, 2024 / 1:29 pm

    This is just stunning Cindy. I love the simplicity. I’m excited to share it in my weekly recap post today.

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