candle magic

I saw a really neat candle craft on a blog a long time ago and I have been dying to try it. I couldn’t remember what blog the tutorial was on so I just had to try it out from memory.

I’ll show you how to transform boring candles…


to happy candles!


It’s really simple.

What you need:
-cheap candles (light colors work best)
-white tissue paper
-double sided tape
-card stock
-scissors
-hairdryer
-printer

Click HERE, HERE, and HERE to download the images I designed.

Or you can make your own. Make sure to measure around the candle as well as the height.

After you are satisfied with the image for your candle, take some tissue paper and cut it to fit on a piece of card stock. Place the tissue paper on top of the card stock and tape down the corners.



Print the image on the tissue paper.



After the image is printed, remove the tissue paper from the card stock and wrap around the candle to determine where to trim off the excess.

Cut off the tissue paper that doesn’t fit on the candle. Wrap the tissue paper around the candle and tape down the edges with a few tiny pieces of double sided tape.



Now this is where the magic happens!

Use a hairdryer to blow hot air on the candle until it starts to look shiny. Work in small sections all around the candle. The wax melts through the tissue paper and dries in a thin layer on top!



The wax dries really quickly and it looks like the image is a part of the candle! It’s amazing how the tissue paper seems to disappear.



To make stripes on a tapered candle don’t cover the whole candle with tissue paper, because it will be uneven and bunch up. Cut it into strips and then attach.



So fun and so cute!

Enjoy your candle crafting!

UPDATE:

A couple people asked if the the candles I showed you how to decorate in my candle tutorial could be burned.  I wasn't really sure, so I decided to try it out on one of the tapered candles that I kind of messed up on...

I don't recommend burning the tapered candles.  I let it burn for a while, forgot about it, remembered, then panicked because the tissue paper caught on fire and there was a huge flame!

The larger column candles would probably be fine to burn because the flame wouldn't be close enough to burn the tissue paper.  The tapered candles should probably just be decorative. So, if you make these to give as gifts, make sure to tell this to the recipient.

I think they are pretty to look at, and I don't think I could burn something that I spent time making. But that's just me.