Bamboo Citronella Torches

It's nice to dream, in your mind, about the way you would want your home to look - inside or out. The nicest home furnishings, a gorgeous garden - let's give it a babbling brook running through it. Grow a weeping willow in seconds while you picture the fanciful and relaxing chairs that sit under it. There are no limits to the designs you can create in your mind, but when you wake up from that fantasy world, you find yourself short of money, time or the know-how to make it actually happen. There are some elements you can create, though, and each one gets you that much closer to that dream yard. For instance, you need very little money or time to plant some seeds or flowers. When you're finished with that, spend a few minutes with some bamboo, and you'll quickly have yard torches to create a lit pathway through the flowers or citronella candles around the property.

In your dream the things you want magically appear, but for the bamboo torches, you'll have to make a quick trip to a home improvement store. There, you'll find stalks of bamboo that are perfect for creating the citronella candle holders. Choose bamboo that's green or brown but select it in a diameter which is about four to five inches around. You can actually make much smaller or larger torches depending upon the size of citronella or other candles you have.

Using a sharp knife or handsaw cut one end of the bamboo so that it has a star pattern. To do this, you'll cut an "x" shape, then cut a line, vertically through the middle of the "x". When using a knife it's often easier to tap it with a hammer to gently split it rather than using a sawing motion. Make all the cuts the same length.

Use twine to wrap around the bamboo and keep the splits from traveling further down the stalk. Tie a piece around the area where the splits stop, wrap it several times, then tie off the end and trim.

Place the torch into the ground so that it's steady and straight. Now set a citronella candle which is in a glass or metal container in the middle of it. The bamboo pieces spread apart, after being cut, to accommodate the candle. Set the torches through a garden, along a sidewalk, or in other areas of the yard. They light the way, keep out mosquitoes and look fabulous.

See similar torches here.