Candle Pedestals Made from 4x4's

By Artist (Guest Post)

Cut stencils from cereal box cardboard and stencil paint them. You could also use colored pencils or crayons if paint is not available. You could also potato stamp them. Cut a raw potato in half, carve out a design on the flat side of the potato and use that as your stamp. Or use any stiff fruit, such as an apple for carving material.

By

pollylev

Decoupage is a great way to dress anything up! You can paint the wood or leave it alone. Craft stores carry all kinds of decoupage papers in lots of different styles. I recommend using Royal Coat (RC) decoupage medium, since Mod Podge takes forever to cure. Just cut out the design you want, "paint" the back of the paper with the RC and put it in place. Now you can cover both the design and the wood with a couple more coats of RC and presto! For a more rustic feel, use the matte finish. Semi-gloss and gloss are also available. If you're still unsure of how to do it, there are lots of small, inexpensive guides available at the craft store. If you want, decoupage two sides ("front" and "back") of the wood with a different seasonal theme. Just turn them around for a completely different look.

By

Dedeswrkshop

Distress them by beating the wood up with a hammer, then use a wood stain on them to bring out the knicks.
OR
They make a neat spray paint that looks like stone when put on.
OR
Group three together and bind with some nice holiday ribbon and pieces of greenery.
OR
Paint the wood silver metallic and then use craft glue to adhere those glass pebble deco pieces in a neat gothic design.