Channukah Eve

It's almost time to light the candles for the feast of Dedication.  It doesn't technically begin until sundown (a couple of hours from now), but I wanted to share the promised pics of the Menorah I made to celebrate the feast.  I had initially planned on purchasing one online, but the ones I really liked were too expensive.  Somewhere along the way, I had a passing thought about carving my own, which sprung up into a plan and eventually blossomed into fruition.  I tossed around several ideas, but none of them proved cost effective or were way above my skill level (as I am not a woodworker by any means.)  I finally decided on making a low profile menorah from a solid piece of wood, figuring that I'd be better off using the subtractive process of woodworking (i.e. take away everything that doesn't look like a menorah, and you end up with your beautiful menorah.)

For two days, I braved the cold along with my father-in-law in his garage/woodshop trying to make it happen.  He doesn't observe Channukah, but was just excited to help me bring the plan in my head to the real world.  Our first attempt failed about halfway through, and immediately afterward, we figured out the solution that would have worked.  The next morning, I went back to it bright and early and made up for lost time.  It was much easier to figure out the cuts the second time around, and together, we finally got it roughed out, then I spent another hour sanding and refining it.  Last night, I did the staining to have it ready to go for sundown tonight.  I can hardly wait to put it to use.

Here are some pictures of the carved and refined menorah and after it was stained. 
Click on them to see it in higher-resolution.

And here is the first image of the Channukah series.  The wallpaper from yesterday was based on this design.  The lyrics are from "King Without A Crown" by Matisyahu.  I thought they complimented the theme of re-dedicating the temple (our temples) to God.  (Click on to view larger)

Chag Sameach! (Joyous Festival!)