Wine Stave Votive

We lucked out on some beatiful oak wine barrel staves while out wine tasting a few months ago. Along comes the monster-in-law’s birthday, and the next thing I know, I’m wrestling with a 2” forstner bit and keeping the darn thing level on my little drill press. A coat of Minwax Classic Oak oil and a few coats of hand rubbed poly, and you have a beautiful centerpiece. We picked up the glass at Michael’s and the cabernet flavored candles are from Illuminations. I was immediately told that I had to make one for us from another stave. We were also lucky enough to pick up a couple of whole barrels from Bent Creek Winery in Livermore, CA, the best winery I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. Note that while sanding, I was very careful to leave the hoop stains intact to give it some authenticity. The underside is the very rough, unfinished, toasted, wine stained interior of the barrel.

-- You can't control the wind, but you can trim your sails