If you have 2×4 scrap wood, have I got an exciting DIY project for you! My style isn’t exactly rustic per say, but I love simple natural elements and these houses fit perfectly with my Christmas style this year! You can customize each candle house height and color, and you can make however many you want to group together. I love the possibilities of this DIY project, and how fast you can make them, as well as how inexpensive they are to make. I think they look relatively high-end, maybe something you’d see at West Elm or by Hearth and Hand at Target. I think you’re going to love these awesome DIY rustic farmhouse candle houses! They would also make a great hostess gift.

Awesome DIY Rustic Farmhouse Candle Houses – Supplies

To get started, let’s gather a few supplies. You will need:

• 2×4 scrap boards
• a ruler
• a pencil
• Forstner drill bit – same diameter as your candles (mine is 3/4″)
• DeWalt drill gun
• DeWalt mitre saw
• Stain or paint
• Taper candles (real or LED)

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Awesome DIY Rustic Farmhouse Candle Houses

The steps are so simple, you will love just how quickly you can make several of these 2×4 board candle houses! The style doesn’t have to be rustic; you can paint them in merry and bright colors, use puff paint to make them look like gingerbread houses, or use high gloss spray paint for a modern look – the possibilities are endless. Here are the steps, or you can watch the short video:

1. Cut the 2×4 or 4×4 at the heights you want
2. Drill the candle hole at the top of each piece of wood
3. Measure and mark with a pencil the middle point at the top of the wood
4. Position the mitre saw at a 45 degree angle and line it up at the middle mark
5. Cut off each corner to make the shape of the roof
6. Stain or paint
7. Add candles and enjoy

Awesome DIY Rustic Farmhouse Candle Houses – Video tutorial

Awesome DIY Rustic Farmhouse Candle Houses

I made five awesome DIY rustic farmhouse candle houses, but you could make a whole village or even just a set. I decided to create a little centerpiece with some Epsom salts for faux snow and fresh cut greenery (found along the roadside). For fun, I added some drops of Young Living Thieves essential oil to the salt, so my centerpiece smells like the holidays. However, if you want to recycle the salt after the holidays, maybe add something like lavender which works better in a bath later on. I love how the dripless candles just take their time and slowly burn without the mess, but I also love the look of drippy candles, so it’s up to you on what style you want to go with. This way, if I want, I can gift these houses away without wax drops.

Awesome DIY Rustic Farmhouse Candle Houses

Some of these photos were taken in the evening and others in the daylight, but you can still see the different shades of brown on my candle houses. To achieve this look, I stained them all with my favorite Farmhouse one-step stain by Rove and Dwell. Then after 30 minutes, I used a whitewash stain on three of the houses. When I could see that the whitewash would take several coats to get the lighter look I wanted, I grabbed some craft paint, watered it down, and did a thorough coat on one house. I wiped off the excess paint so that the wood grain would show through, but I like that it’s a shade brighter than the others and helps to create some dimension. The nice thing about watered down acrylic craft paint is that you can test a little spot and if you don’t love it, wash it off quickly before it sets. These houses don’t need to be sealed, unless they’ll be outside. These were so easy to make, and the centerpiece turned out better than expected. Here’s another scrap wood Christmas DIY decoration by Zoe at Pine + Poplar. I hope you like them too and find inspiration in this post. It’s a crafty time of year after all.