HANDCRAFTED CANDLE HOLDERS

BY ASHLEY SUNDQUIST

Support a woman in woodworking by taking home one of Ashley's handcrafted, one-of-a-kind candle holders. Every piece is made from locally sourced and scavenged firewood. Made with love in Santa Monica, California. 

MY PROCESS

I have a pretty scrappy artistic process. First, I go to a local firewood lot in Sawtelle like I'm some kind of woodworking trash panda and scavenge the towering piles of wood for unique shapes and interesting character traits. Then, I pay José, load up my car and carry my ragtag wood bundle into a maker space in Downtown LA. Then, I use two different orbital sanding tools with 80 grit sanding discs and sand each piece until it's as smooth as N'Sync's first album. Then, I'll sand each piece for about an hour or until my arms give out. Then, I have a snack. Once satiated from my snacks, I use all the strength I can muster to drill the tea light holes with my RYOBI drill and a 1-5/8 inch steel drill bit. My hands are pretty exhausted by this point. Once I've done this for every piece, I load everything back into the car and carry my candle holder bebes into my apartment for finishing. Every piece is polished with high-grade mineral oil. Then, I make my husband look at all of my handiwork and tell me how much he loves them/me. Then, I use a pyrography tool heated to 750 degrees to sign each piece with my name and customize with a word that the client has chosen. Lastly, each candle holder bebe is given a name. I want them to feel pretty, ya know? Finally, it's time to part. I lovingly wrap them in tissue paper, tie them with a satin bow and send them back into the wild. 

MY WORK IN THE WILD

I am grateful that my candle holders have happy homes from coast to coast! Here are just a few of my works in the wild.