Here is the first of the four candles I created.  This version has a cranberry tinted soy wax inside a plain glass oval container – it is painted and embellished with a glittery seasonal message. 

Supplies: plain glass heat safe container, microwavable soy wax, chip board letters (or stickers), pre-waxed wick, frosted glass spray paint, white spray paint, glue stick, painter’s tape, glitter. 

Step One:  Attach chip board letters with just enough glue from a glue stick to keep them in place.  You could also use stickers or Cricut letters here. 

Anything goes !

Cover the top of glass with painter’s tape (or simply turn it upside down) and spray with two coats of frosted glass spray paint.  Allow to dry for 30 minutes in between coats. 

Note: Most ordinary colored spray paint’s are not designed for glass, but frosted glass spray paint is, therefore it acts as a good primer for any subsequent colored spray paint you choose. 

Step Two:  Once your two coats of frosted glass paint are dry, spray paint your color coat of choice (I used what I had from my stockpile: Rustoleum’s Heirloom White).  After you’ve sprayed your glass with your colored spray paint, sprinkle glitter into the paint while the paint is still wet.  

Step Three:  Remove chipboard letters. 

Melt your microwavable soy wax in the microwave and add any colored tint you choose. 

If you want to have a white wax but colored letters underneath, then use colored paint designed for glass to paint the inside of the glass before you add your white wax. 

Remove your letters and scrape away any residue from the glue stick or paint with a small flathead screwdriver or similar tool.

** You’ll notice the wax is already in the candle – I actually chose to paint it white after I filled it with wax, but I recommend doing the wax last, after you paint.  

Step Four:  Melt your microwavable soy wax in a microwave safe glass container (like a Pyrex measuring cup) about 2 to 3 cups at a time.  Add tint, then pour into heat safe glass container with a wick.  Use a chopstick or similar tool to support your wick as your candle cools. 

Once your wax is cooled and your paint and glitter have dried, your candle will look like this.

You can do your own version with “Joy” or “Noel” or “Merry” or “Bah Humbug” or whatever you like.  Imagine making this with someone’s name, wouldn’t that be charming ?   It would look so pretty with pale blue or green tinted wax too, especially next to the glittery surround. 

This next candle was another experiment creating a painted monogram and filling a plain glass container with golden tinted wax. 

Supplies: plain circular glass container, microwavable soy wax, stickers, frosted glass spray paint, bronze spray paint. 

To create this candle, attach stickers of choice to a glass candle holder, then spray with two coats of frosted glass spray paint.  Again, the frosted glass paint acts as a primer for your color coat because frosted glass spray paint is designed to adhere to glass, whereas most colored spray paints are not. 

Although, I must say, I’ve never tried to use regular Rustoleum spray paint on glass, so I’m not sure how well it sticks to glass without the frosted glass paint underneath.  Anyone know ?

After the frosted glass paint was dry, I painted the candle with another color I had on hand, Rustoleum’s Antique Bronze.  Tip:  When removing your stickers peel away very carefully so that your color coat does not peel off the glass with your stickers. 

Melt your soy wax in the microwave.  Add any color you want to tint it beyond its white color.

There are plenty of dyes available.  I used the liquid red for the “wish” candle and the stick version for the monogram candle.

You can also add scent – I used some lavender essential oil I already had to the melted wax before it solidified. 

Allow your wax to cool, then tie it with a pretty ribbon and give it to a friend. 

Or make one as a gift for yourself, as I did in this case !

“Merry Christmas Kate !”

This next candle was made with an antique tea cup and saucer.  My sister-in-law adores Victorian style tea cups, and she loves candles too.  So I picked up this antique German tea cup (although it is 12 ounces, so it’s more like a coffee cup) at the Antique Fair. 

She will love this sweet floral design.

I pulled this idea right out of the Cambria Cove catalog – their tea cup and saucer candles cost $50 dollars.  Yikes !  This version only cost $5 dollars for the antique cup and saucer, and a few dollars for the soy wax and wick to fill it. 

Here’s the snapshot from Cambria Cove – I just love this novel idea, without the price tag.

Image: Cambria Cove

I wrapped it in cellophane and ribbon for an original Christmas present just for my sister-in-law.  Hope she doesn’t read this before Christmas… oops  !  Isn’t this a charming idea for tea cups and saucers?  What a great gift for bridesmaids or teachers or any other special lady.  And so unbelievably easy to make !

I have a girlfriend who loves jewel tones, so I found this amethyst colored glass candle on clearance at a local store – it already had the scented wax in it, so I attached a big letter sticker to the glass, then I spray painted it with frosted glass, and added glitter while the frosted glass paint was still wet. 

The frosted glass paint works just as well as a spray adhesive to keep the glitter in place. 

So easy ! 

Then I wrapped it up in cellophane and ribbons, and will be giving it as a hostess gift next week. 

Pretty cute and easy peasy.  These would make great gifts for teachers too ! 

That’s the latest of my experiments with frosted glass spray paints and glitter. . .   I especially love the tea cup and saucer creations – wouldn’t they be so elegant at a tea party, or as place card gifts at a bridal shower ? 

What do you think ?

I knew that cement wouldn’t stick to plastic, so why not use plastic forms from my kitchen as molds for candleholders ?  I started testing this invention last weekend to see if I could create something wonderful out of something mundane.  After a few rounds of trial and error, my creation took form. 

You’d never guess that these lovelies were created out of yogurt cups and plastic storage containers. 

How perfect are these for lighting a twilight path to your door ?

Do you need some candlelight in your garden ?

Perhaps a romantic table for two outdoors?

Believe it or not, these cement candleholders were made with molds from plastics available at your local grocery store. 

How to Make Outdoor Cement Candleholders:

Supplies:

1. Plastics in various sizes for outside mold.  They can be storage containers, deli containers, or juice jugs
2. Yogurt cups for inside mold
3. Non-stick cooking spray
4. Plastic sheeting
5. Rapid set cement mix from home improvement store (I recommend the 55 lb. bag over the 10 lb. box if you want to do more than just a few small tea light candleholders.)
6. Plastic bucket for mixing
7. Stir stick (pick up a free one in the paint department)
8. Measuring cup
9. Sanding pad
10. Latex gloves
11. Outdoor ‘Patio Paint’ in colors of choice

Step One: Clean and dry your plastic molds and yogurt cups.  Spray the inside of your plastic mold with a thin coat of cooking spray.  The cooking spray isn’t absolutely essential, but it does help ease your plastic away from the cement when you pop it out of the molds. 

Step Two:  Lay down plastic sheeting on your workspace, and put on your latex gloves – cement is irritating and very drying to your hands. 

Step Three: Mix your cement with 4 parts cement powder and 1 part water as directed on the bag.  It should be similar to the consistency of cake mix. 

Step Four:  Working quickly, pour your cement into your plastic mold, and set your yogurt cups inside.  Use some pebbles or small rocks to weigh your yogurt cups down, because they tend to want to rise up out of the cement.  

Make sure your plastic mold is on a level surface.  Gently tap your candle mold about a dozen times to bring any bubbles to the surface. 

Step Five:  If your rapid set mix will solidify in 15 minutes, then let your mold sit for approximately 10 minutes, and gently twist your yogurt cups inside the mold to ease in their removal.  After the full 15 minutes, remove the yogurt cups.  When you can feel the outside cement is very warm inside its plastic mold, and when it starts to form some condensation, pop it out of the mold.  Do this just before it is permanently set.  It’s about a 2 minute window, so stay by your project. 

Note:  Your plastic storage containers are completely reusable after this project – be sure to rinse any cement residue out of your mold right away.  But don’t rinse it down your indoor plumbing – after all, it is cement.

Step Six:  Take your sanding pad and gently rub away any rough edges on the surface and sides.

Step Seven:  Allow cement candleholders to fully set approximately 12 to 24 hours.

Step Eight:  If you want a painted surface, then apply several coats of outdoor ‘Patio Paint’ to your candleholders.  Allow to dry between coats. 

I added some decorative rocks between Step Four and Step Five to create a more rugged looking candleholder for my younger brother’s bachelor pad.  You could also use shells, mosaics, whatever you like.

I painted the inside and outside a mushroom color that I made from a mixture of brown, gray, and green patio paint. 

Nestled among succulents, this version is very zen and organic.  

Just look what you can create out of ordinary grocery store plastics.

  You can combine your creations in all sorts of different settings.  Another chocolate colored version is shown below.

I must digress for one moment – just look at the fall colors coming out of my happy hydrangea bush.  I have dozens of these blooms.  I feed them nothing, and they are this good to me.  I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this.  These hydrangeas dry out in these exact colors.  In years past, I’ve made wreaths with them, or misted them with bronze spray paint, and brought them indoors for the holidays.   

Go ahead and slap me for bringing out a pumpkin in August, but this white ceramic beauty was on clearance at Ballard Designs for $10 dollars.  It just arrived the other day, and I couldn’t help but show it to you paired with my new outdoor tea light candleholders.    

My favorite part about these cement candleholders is how useful they will be through the fall and through the holidays. Unlike glass votives, there is no worrying about shattered glass.  Unlike metal luminaries, there is no need to bring them indoors for fear of rust.  These homemade versions should weather outside beautifully, just like any other cement object.

Next post, I’ll share some more tips and tricks about working with cement.  And I’ll also show you how to made a few cement planters out of more plastic containers and a lemonade jug. 

So what do you think of my little creations ?

Then it hit me:  why not painted candles?  I remembered I had some leftover paint specially designed for glass from this project, and some extra glass jars just collecting dust, and I saw some microwaveable candle wax at the craft store, so then my brain started spinning totally out of control. 

Here’s what I came up with:  custom painted glass candles personalized with my own design.  A great gift for Mother’s Day ! 

Supplies:

1. Specialty paint for glass, available at major craft stores
2. Small paintbrush
3. Glass jars
4. Stickers for words or imprints (see below)
5. Microwaveable soy wax
6. Wicks
7. Essential oil for scent (optional)

Painting the Glass:

The great thing about these glass painting kits is you can mix your own custom colors.  Before you apply the paint, adhere stickers to the inside of your glass jars in the design you choose.  As you’ll see, I experimented with stripes, with leaf stickers, and with an “I Heart You Mom” message.  Then give your glass jars a coat of paint on the inside of the glass, covering the stickers.

Remove your stickers very carefully with tweezers, then cure (bake) your glass in the oven as directed on the paint box.  (Total curing and cooling time is about an hour).

Adding the Candle Wax:

Soy wax is a great product because it is made from soybeans, so it is all natural and burns clean.  And the handy dandy use of the microwave couldn’t be easier.  Follow the instructions for melting the microwavable wax at home.  Add 1/2 teaspoon of essential oils to the melted wax for scented candles.  I used organic lavender essential oil from Whole Foods and it smells fabulous. 

Two tips for sanity:  1)  Use a utensil, like a chopstick, crossed over the top of your jar to support your wick and keep it standing up.  2)  Pour the melted wax into a warm, not cold, glass jar to avoid any risk of cracking the glass.  I kept my jars warm in the oven until I was ready to pour in the wax.

Why use my Pyrex you might ask?  It is glass, has a pour spout, cleans up quick with a paper towel and hot soapy water, and any leftover  residue will flake off when I put it in my freezer.  (You know that freezing wax removes it from glass, don’t you?)  And I kinda have a thing against microwaving plastic for long periods of time.  

Keep your wicks supported as the candles cool.  My cocktail stirrers and a chopstick earned their keep today. 

Once your candles have cooled completely (about 90 minutes), doll them up with a personalized tag.

This one’s for my hunny and me:

Total project time is about 3 to 4 hours. 

If there is one place for improvement, it is in the paint application.  A second coat would remove the streaks that appear from just one coat.  Even better would be to add a few drops of water to the paint to make its consistency more fluid like, then swirl it around the inside of the glass for smoother coverage. 

This is one of those projects I will definitely try again.  These make great shower, birthday, or special occasion gifts. 

What would your design be?

Here, I added some velvet ribbon and paired it with some bronze satin ribbon. I attached a brown flower embelishment.

Blue candle wanted a bit more bling, so I draped it with a necklace, and placed it on my vanity. It was happy, until…

Next came the leftover bronze candle from Christmas. What to do?

Have you ever considered using your candles as jewelry holders? Here, my bronze candle sits in my master bedroom, wrapped in some simple brown raffia and it holds some of my favorite chandeliers.

Spring is near, so why not dress up a beautiful green candle and set it next to some spring bulbs?

Oh, la la, so haute. I bought the above necklace in a vintage store in New Orleans ten years ago, and it is so sexy underneath my Rodin “Kiss” statue (I paid $10 for that statue in Paris years ago. Such a touristy souvenier, but I love it!)

Simple nail heads paired with those earrings I never wear, above now pay tribute on my dining room console.

Next, it had some fun in my sixteen year old stepdaughter’s surfer themed room.

Finally, sea blue candle and her sister were covered with floral ribbon and brads, and will be packaged in cellophane and become gifts for my girlfriends.

I never liked pink until I had a baby girl, and then pink just becomes part of your DNA after that.

Here, pink candle tries on some of mama’s jewelry, and poses in Junior CG’s room.

Pink candle found its home on display next to my daughter’s collectibles, after being embellished with pearls and rhinestones. Another version of this would make a great wedding or baby shower gift.

Oh, the places you can go with a plain vanilla candle.

Above, I attached a floral pin I had sitting around in my accessories stash. Here, vanilla candle poses on my living room mantel.

Some leftover golden decor from Thanksgiving has been trimmed, and glued, to these taller vanilla candles. They reside above my fireplace in my family room.

Master bedrooms need a lot of candles. This one has new neck wear and sits on my husband’s highboy dresser.

This vanilla candle is trying on some bronze ribbon and one of my favorite summer bracelets.

Vanilla candle finds a resting place in my downstairs half bathroom, showing off some of my other favorite summer bracelets, and reminding all who enter of the time.

What are your ideas for making your candles fabulous?

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