Easy DIY wood Chargers for any tablescape! Stain them different colours to make them reversible and use them for Easter, Christmas & Thanksgiving!
Tablescapes are one of my favourite ways to decorate each season. They are only there for an evening, and truthfully, I only set them up three or four times a year, just for the major holidays, but I still get so much joy out of sharing a gorgeous table. Most of us cannot afford a giant drawer of napkins and accessories, but we still want variety. So I try to DIY as many pieces as possible, including these easy DIY wooden chargers.
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Have you every tried to cut a perfect circle? It’s not easy! Even with a perfect outline scissors and saws just aren’t meant for rounded edges! But I dreamed of rounded chargers, so I needed a solution.
When I told my husband that I wanted to make reversible chargers, his first response was, “why?” When I told him how much money he would be saving by not buying two new sets of chargers, he managed to come up with an amazing idea for me #blesshischeapdutchheart. So I’m sharing my secret to perfect reversible chargers!
How to Make DIY Reversible Chargers
Materials Needed to Make Chargers
- Plywood
- Sand paper
- Wood stain (I used dark walnut and ebony)
- Varnish
Tools Needed to Make Chargers
- Table Saw or circular saw
- Drill
- Kreg Router Table with track and Kreg featherboard, OR
- Scroll Saw
Instructions for DIY Wood Chargers
This is a pretty basic woodworking project. We used our router table, but if you don’t have one, i’ll share other easy solutions too. The router table is the absolute easiest way to create a perfectly round circle, but it will also result in a small round hole in the center of the charger. The hole will be covered by the plates and never noticed, but if you don’t want the hole, I would suggest the second method below.
Chargers are typically 13″ in diameter, so I started by cutting my plywood into 14″ by 14″ squares on the table saw.
Next, you want to find you center of your boards by drawing straight lines from diagonal ends.
Once you find the center, drill a hole in the center, the same size as the bolt that runs in your router table track. We used the bold from our featherboard (the silver bolt on the table below).
We used the router table to cut the wood until we reached our circle, a 7.5inch radius, and then tightened the bolt and turned the wooden board until the circle was cut.
By tightening the bolt and holding the board in place, you are ensuring the you will keep the exact diameter as you use the router bit, and create a perfect circle.
If you do not have a router table you can use a scroll saw, or even a jigsaw to cut your chargers too. Just draw a perfect 13″ diameter circle and cut along the line.
I would strongly suggest a scroll saw, as it will give you a nicer finish. Any other saw does not give the same control for rounded edges and will likely require a lot of sanding to create the rounded look.
Once you have your perfect circle, sand the top, bottom, and edges of all of your chargers and get ready to stain them and then varnish them.
If you want your chargers to be reversible, consider staining the two sides in different colours, as I did. You need to be careful that the stain does not drip to the other side, as it will seep into the wood and be hard to sand down if it does.
I stained our chargers with dark walnut on one side, and ebony on the other. I love the look of both and have used both sides in various tablescapes over the past year!
Our Finished DIY Wood Chargers
Here are a few examples of how I’ve used these DIY wood chargers in our holiday tablescapes throughout the year .
Our Easter Tablescape
The Easter tablescape was full of wood, greenery, and white decor. The dark chargers were perfect between the white tablecloth and the white dishes.
Our Thanksgiving Tablescape
One of our Thanksgiving tables was filled with copper decor and greenery. The dark walnut of the chargers blended perfectly with the fall oranges and reds decorating the rest of the table.
Our Christmas Tablescape
This holiday table was one of my favourites! It was full of DIY ideas, from the chargers, to the DIY table runner, and the painted bread basket. It was full of beautiful inspiration and the dark chargers were the perfect addition to this moody table.
DIY Chargers (for any tablescape)
Easy DIY Chargers for any tablescape! Stain them different colours to make them reversible and use them for Easter, Christmas & Thanksgiving!
Materials
- Plywood
- Sand paper
- Wood stain (We used dark walnut and ebony)
Tools
- Table Saw or circular saw
- Drill
- Scroll saw, OR
- Kreg Router Table with track
- Kreg featherboard
Instructions
- Cut plywood into 14" by 14" squares on the table saw
- Find you center on each square by drawing straight lines from diagonal ends.
- Once you find the center, if you choose to use your router table, drill a hole in the center, the same size as the bolt that runs in your router table track from your featherboard.
- Using a measuring tape, measure 7.5" (the radius of your 13" circle) from the center, and draw a line. Then slide your square plywood board onto the bolt that is in the track put the knob (we took ours from the Kreg featherboard) on loosely. Slowly move your board towards the center flush trim bit on your router table, until you reach your 7.5" radius mark.
- Once you found your perfect 7.5" distance, tighten the knob and spin the board around until a perfect circle forms.
- Alternatively, you can use a scroll saw. Draw a 13" circle onto your wooden square (trace another charger if you have one). Then use the scroll saw to carefully cut along the drawn circle outline.
- Sand down the both sides and the edges.
- Stain it with your choice of wood stain. We used ebony on one side and dark walnut on the other side to make them reversible.
- Varnish the wood finish to protect it.
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Woodworker Oliver
Monday 6th of February 2017
This is awesome, Lindi. Thanks for sharing. You just inspired me to do something similar :-)
Cheers
Oliver
Lindivs
Monday 6th of February 2017
That's awesome! I'm so glad you stopped by!
Iris Nacole
Monday 21st of November 2016
Love this, and I seriously need a router table for myself now! Thanks for sharing this at the Creative Circle link party!