Branch Candle Centerpieces

One of the very first items I pinned to my Pinterest page was this....

It was posted originally by So And Sew Productions blog and it came from
either The Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware.  But the idea
inspired me to try this at home!

So, for the last month...everywhere we go out in the vehicle or on foot, I've been
searching for the perfect branch.  It's actually quite funny, because I've even got Maureen involved in finding the perfect branches. A couple days ago, she hauled over a fairly large branch from her backyard she found for me!  I wonder what people were thinking watching her walk down the street with a giant branch!?
But...it wasn't the one I wanted....I know...I felt bad!

Dan & I went for a walk up the sideroad with the dogs yesterday morning and after
much chaos with the dogs getting tangled in the brush with their leashes wrapped around small trees and weeds, muck on our boots, and juggling...we managed to get these.

Whatever branch you pick, it has to suit your tastes...of course, but it also
must have branches wide enough to hold the candle holders.

Which leads me to what I used for candle holders.

These are called "Nail-On Glides" and come in a box of four.  They're used
for the bottom of chairs to help them glide across the floor, but I spent a long time
checking out the hardware aisle for something that would work to
hold my candles on....and this was it!
The beauty of having nails is your candle slides right down and if, by chance
(something I'd never do....hahaha....did it), your candle nail is on crooked, you
can actually adjust the candle by sticking it into it on a wee bit of an angle.

After trimming up my branches to how I wanted it to look and twisting the branch
upside down to see which way it sat flat best, but still looked interesting,
I hot-gluegunned the Nail-On Gliders in spots here and there, trying to keep
them level and spaced out sufficiently.
I actually enjoyed trimming it up....felt like a crazy artist sculpting something!

This is the Gold branch before.

And....this is my Silver branch before.

Having affixed the candle holders, I spray-painted two coats, top and bottom,
including the candle holders and here's some photos of
the finished product!

This Silver one was actually a secondary thought for me, because as you
can see from the photos, silver in my house...not so good!
But, I quite like it  and feel in the right environment, it could look
completely excellent!

In this close up you can see how lovely the silver metallic paint is
and how the real look of the wood shines through.

I can't decide which one I like best, but I obviously can see the gold branch
looks preferable here over the silver.

Dan & I both liked that there was moss and knarlyness (is that a word?) to
this particular branch and it's definitely a unique piece because
it's been given such texture as a result...shiny in two tones.

You could add some Christmas Bling to it as well. 
I kinda wanted to keep it simple looking, but will definitely play with it some
more and add perhaps some boughs from the tree or some holly berries?

I realize it looks monstrous in some of the shots here, but in reality, there
is plenty of room to share a meal around it at my table.
I quite like the meshing of nature and metallic.
Which one do you like best?
And, do you think you'll try this at home?
I'd love to hear back about this....
xo

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Chic on a Shoestring Decorating