DIY Bourbon Barrel Candle Holder

$20
30 Minutes
Easy
Did you know that bourbon barrels are only used once for the making of actual bourbon? Yep. They get sent off to other booze makers to be used again, or they’re taken apart and people like us buy the pieces and get our DIY on.
We bought a stave, one of the skinny pieces of wood that makes up the barrel’s side, at one of the distillery gift shops in Louisville. We debated adding hooks to it first, but in the end we went with FIRE.


Not only is this another easy project, but it’s much faster than the bench–the last undertaking for which Hubsey and I joined forces. We didn’t track it to the minute, but this was about half an hour of active work. BONUS INCENTIVE: when you drill into the wood, it smells like bourbon. Who’s ready?!
Here’s what you need:


— barrel stave (easy to find by Googling if you’re not in bourbon country)


— drill


— 1 1/2″ spade drill bit


— tape measure or ruler


— pencil


— gloves


— clear finish


— tea lights
First, we found the middle point on the stave and marked the side with a pencil. At first we considered being all scientific and dividing each side by three to mark the additional spots, but that got into some weird fractions so we went the easy route and made all of them 4″ apart.


After the holes were marked, Hubsey busted out our fancy new drill bit. A couple of things to keep in mind for this part of the project. One: wear gloves. Bourbon is aged in barrels that are charred on the inside, and that soot will get alllllll up in yo’ business (I got some on my hands and then pushed my bangs out of my face–you can probably guess how that went). Two: keep that drill vertical so the holes are flat on the bottom. You may have to do a couple of passes as you get the hang of it.


To see the rest of the tutorial, check out my post below!
Paige @ Little Nostalgia
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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