DIY: Julian's Centerpiece

I know I am a little behind in posting this, but I wanted to share Julian's DIY from the holidays.  After we put up all our decorations, we could not decide what we wanted to do as our table centerpiece.  After searching at all our go-to decorating shops, Julian instead consulted one of his favorite websites (Brit + Co.) and we scanned an article of ways to make your holiday table festive.  When I saw this one, I immediately fell in love with it.  Julian took one look at it and decided that he could make that himself.   

For anyone who cares, I have detailed exactly how we did this (in case someone wants to replicate this project).  And for anyone who doesn't just scroll to the bottom to see the final product.  

First, we would have to get the wood for the centerpiece.  Julian scouted out a few trees and cut one down. I won't really say where that part came from. =)

Next, he cut the tree down to about the size that we needed for our table.  Our table is 6 feet long and so the log is 3.5 feet.  

Measure twice...cut once!

Here is the final log size.  

Then, Julian took a 1.5 " drill bit and drilled 7 holes for tea lights on to the top.  He measured and spaced those 3 inches from the edge of the log and 6 inches apart.   

Here is the log with the tea lights sitting on our table.  

That was enough work for one day.  We spent the next few days looking for the table runner and the greenery that would go around the log.  We settled on a 108" beige/green runner from World Market (around $17 with our coupon) and I found this greenery at Hobby Lobby. It was only 6 feet of garland and it was the only one they had left.  But I bought it anyway thinking we could make it work.  By the time I got this, Hobby Lobby was selling their Christmas decor at 50% off so we only paid $25 for the garland.   

When I brought the garland home, Julian was a little skeptical about if this would work.  But he had a vision in his head and so he took out a pair of pruning shears.  

I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical at this point too.  I could not see how what he as doing would end up in this centerpiece of our dreams.  But he cut the garland up piece by piece and started to arrange it around the log.  

 The more he went along, the more I was totally into his vision.  And the end result...

The exact Pièce de résistance for our dining room table!

All told, we spent around $50 on supplies (not including the tools we already had) and Julian probably put in about 3 hours of labor on it all.  Totally worth the time and money for us to have the centerpiece that all our house guests have ranted and raved about commented on.  Maybe next year, I can get the place mats, napkins, and fancy plates to finish out our table (hint, hint Julian)!

He did such an amazing job with this DIY project and I am so glad that he loves doing these things.  Julian wants me to blog one DIY project a month of his and at this point, I say keep it coming!  My wish for the next DIY...a bookcase for Jillian's room!