Candle Decorating: Dress Up and Personalize Candles

The best part of this project is that the possibilities are limitless. You can scour your home and turn up all sorts of supplies. Some favorites have been old buttons, ribbon, leaves, or even temporary tattoos.

Collect your old candles and prepare them to be new again. Old pantyhose work wonders, just buff the candle to take out small scratches. If you have more damage, consider reshaping the candle with a sharp knife. Smooth out cuts by gently heating the candle with a blow dryer turned on high or carefully with a lit candle. Then turn to your pantyhose and polish, polish, polish.

Once you’re happy with the surface of the candle, figure out your design. Are you going to embed buttons, beads or other items? Will you wrap them in a ribbon and tack it down with an old earring that has lost its mate? Whatever your medium, remember that some items are flammable and if you plan on lighting the candle you’ll need to keep an eye out for these decorations.

Prepare your candles by swabbing them with rubbing alcohol. This will guarantee better adherence if you’re using paint or glue to attach items. You can warm an area and firmly press an item into place. This technique works well on leaves and thinner supplies but heavy items such as beaded cords or jewels hold better with glue. Hot glue guns are good but traditional white craft glue works just as well and you don’t stand the risk of accidentally melting the wrong part of the candle.

Use a straight pin to mark out your design and align items before you actually attach them to the candle. This way you can be sure that everything is symmetrical and evenly placed. Let your creativity run wild and design candles like no one has seen before. Individualize gifts for friends and family in your own personal way.