Trash to Treasure

A couple of months ago, I was in spring cleaning mode. This particular spring cleaning mode extended to the outdoors as well, and one sunny afternoon my neighbor and I were pulling weeds when I noticed that some things had been dumped at the beginning of the walking trail through the woods next to our home. Since we live in a new development it's not completely uncommon to find random construction leftovers here and there, so I went over to pick up the discarded wood scraps and put them in the trash. One of the pieces of board that I picked up was this:

It didn't look like much at first, but then I turned it over and my mind started whirling. I immediately thought of what I could do with it! I cleaned it up,
Painted it in 'gilded endive,' which is from Mistress's furniture, the family plaque, and a whole host of other things that I wanted to turn whiteish. (I am beginning to think that I will never actually run out of this paint, but I digress...) Three coats did the trick because I don't actually own primer.

Then I sanded it to rough it up a bit,

Distressed it with a hammer and some nails,
Used a bit of stamping ink to bring out the bare wood, (stain would also work)
And added tealights! I also put some felt pads on the bottom to protect the table. I can already see this at Christmas surrounded by fresh greens!
Total cost? $0!!! For the record, I think this is the top part of a railing. I like it better as a candleholder, what do you think?