Nature inspired Centerpieces

Photographs by Christina Schmidhofer



This was a great project that I found in Sunset magazine, by Peter O. Whiteley. I love mixing contemporary items of the home with natural touches to warm up a room. Here is a wonderful centerpiece that looks great, yet is so amazingly simple to make it's almost too good to be true. Perfect for spring or fall.

Start with slender but sturdy dried plant material from your garden or a craft or florists’ supply store.
1. Select your base: a piece of plywood or wood, or a slate or terra-cotta floor tile.

2. Lay out a geometric hole pattern around the candle(s). For safety, ensure that nothing is too close to the flame.

3. Use an electric drill with a wood or masonry bit that is slightly smaller than the stems’ diameter.

4. If holes are too small, whittle stems with a craft knife. Glue in place if desired.

5. Position candle(s); votives should be in glass surrounds, but larger candles can sit directly on base. Use long-necked gas igniters to light.

Other variations of this project:

Tree-like twigs edge a stream bed of green pebbles running down the center of a sealed 30-inch piece of redwood 1-by-4.