Asian Inspired Tealight Candle Holder

So, I reclaimed some neglected cherry wood I used to make a coffee table with (for my wifey).  It's been a while since I've worked with cherry and I forgot how much I LOVE it!  This is due partly because it's easy to cut and shape, but also for the grain quarter sawn cherry gives.  Look at the below picture and note the absolute beauty in the (nearly) horizontal lines of the grain.  This is what cherry looks like untouched (i.e. recently cut and sanded).  Cherry has a really cool characteristic of darkening when UV rays hit it.  In a couple of months, this tealight candle holder will be several shades darker.  It's one of the only woods I'm aware of that actually doesn't fade with sunlight.  Beautiful stuff.

Here's what the asian tealight candle holder looks like in it's entirety before sealing and finishing.

I wanted to have a more substantial tealight holder, one that is sort of beefy in size.  This particular one easily accommodates your run-of-the-mill tealight candle.  The width of this holder is about 3 1/2 inches wide, BEEFY!

Yep, here's where the magic happens!  General Finishes makes some of the best wood sealers and topcoats!  They use superior resins in their varnishes (for topcoats).  This is their SEAL-A-CELL clear oil for protecting wood.  You would use this product instead of staining.  Their SEAL-A-CELL is compatible with many dyes so you can create your own stains (sort of).  I used it without any color and this effectively brings out the grain (and can really make figured wood pop).

Here's what the cherry looks like with a super-saturating amount of SEAL-A-CELL.  It really brings out the uniqueness of the cherry (click the image to see a larger view of it).  I'll later apply several coats of Arm-R-Seal (also a product by General Finishes).  I'll update this post later when I get several coats of the topcoat on.  If you'd like to buy one of these wonderful Asian inspired tealight candle holders, visit my etsy shop or send me a message.

Edit - A day later, here's what the tealight candle holder looks like with three coats of Arm-R-Seal topcoat.

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