A Branch Centerpiece with Old books

 This was a fun project that my sister Keren and I put together (well I basically put together while she snapped a bunch of pictures!) and I had entered it in a contest but it didn't get selected so I decided I would share it on here. I was putting it together with a wedding in mind but we could use it on your table at home just as well! I hope you have fun with it!

What you need: (for one centerpiece)

-4 Old books. They will not get ruined so if you are a collector of old books it works to raid your own shelves for the wedding.

-Some brush/branches. One or two depending on their size and how many little branches they have sticking off of them. They need to be fairly sturdy for hanging candles on.

-Sheet Moss

-Rocks or sand for weight

-Quart size tin can

- Floral Foam for silk or dried flowers

-Tea light holders

-Ribbon (http://www.cheapribbons.com/products.html)

-Glue sticks and glue gun

-Scissors

-Tea lights



Instructions:

Step 1: Place rocks or sand in the bottom of the tin can. Weight is needed to make it stable, so this is a very important step.

Step 2: Cut the floral foam to fit in the can and fill it up the rest of the way.

Step 3: Arrange the four books around the can and then tie a ribbon bow around them to hold them in place. I used both purple and sand colored ribbon but you could use whatever type or color of ribbon that best matched your wedding.

Step 4: Place a sheet of moss over the foam and can and to the edge of each book. You can hot glue it in place if you like.

Step 5: Insert branch(es) . Push them down in the foam a long way so they are very stable.

Step 6: Make the hanging votives by hot gluing a ribbon hanger to each votive cup and then gluing another ribbon around the rim.

Step 7: Hang the votive cups up and place the candles inside.

This is a very simple and fun project. It isn’t real easy to transport (because of the books being loose and the branch being so big) but you could get everything ready to go and it would be very simple to do the finishing touches at the reception site. Hanging candles create an incredibly romantic atmosphere!

This post is linked to Funky Junk Interiors' Saturday Night Special where her theme is Sticks and Branches.