I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for.
It’s time for Part 2 of my Easy Handmade Christmas Gifts Series. Today I will be showing you an altered candle. These are great because they look very elegant but are so easy and inexpensive to make.
For this project, you will need:
1 pillar candle (Walmart has some in their Christmas aisle for about $2)
1 sheet of tissue paper in the same color as your candle
A dye ink pad (you don’t have to use dye ink but it’s better as pigment ink will have a tendency to run on you)
Rubber stamp
Craft heat gun
Ribbon and any other embellishments you might like
Glue
First, you will stamp your image onto the tissue paper. You can use any color of candle, but the tissue paper needs to be close in color to the candle so that it blends in well. Then trim around your image. I did several of the same image for this candle, but if you have a large image, you might just want to do one. Next you will hold the tissue paper against the candle. If you want to, you can use a very tiny dot of glue to hold it on; I have found, however, that the static electricity from taking the wrapper off the candle is enough to hold the tissue paper for my purposes. Use the heat gun to melt the tissue paper onto the candle. You will want to rotate the candle a bit as you melt the wax so that you don’t get runs in your candle. If you do happen to get a run, just reheat the area with the craft gun and rotate the candle until the run disappears.
Once the wax has cooled (about 2 minutes), you can embellish your candle further in any way you like. I glued sequins into the middle of the snowflakes. For this one, I used Tacky Glue but, in retrospect, I think hot glue would have worked well also. I then used my red Stickles by Ranger (glitter glue) to put little glittery dots at the end of the snowflakes. Finish off by tying a pretty ribbon around the candle.
Some other ideas you might consider:
I have stuck floral picks behind the ribbon to add a little dimension.
You can spray the candle with glittery spray paint to add a little glitter. (I’m a fool for glitter – anything tacky really – you’ll notice that I put a little red glitter on the top of this candle.)
You don’t have to use the tall pillar candles. You can use shorter candles, votives, etc.
The possibilities are endless! Pair this with a small glass charger plate, wrap in a cellophane wrapper with a pretty ribbon and you will have a wonderful Christmas gift!
what a neat idea! I am crazy about glitter too 😀
I was just at the Sis Boom blog and drooling over the glittery stuff there. I love your candle idea! I don’t have any stamp pads or a heat gun, dang it. Would a hair dryer work?
I’m not sure a hair dryer would get hot enough to melt the wax. You could try it though.
I recently discovered that the Dollar Tree has pillar candles. That would have been nice to know before I spent $2.50 at Wal-Mart!