Project 9: No More Boring Pillar Candles

 

Who doesn't love pillar candles. But these days, who has the money to spend on those fancy, pre-decorated ones? Certainly, not myself. You can pick up plain white ones at the Dollar Tree, or even at Wal*Mart, for next to nothing. On the other hand, unless it falls into your stark white décor, white candles just don't add any flavor to the scene.

But.. they CAN with a little creativity. I am obsessed with Pinterest (you might've noticed, if you've checked out other posts to my blog). I found this idea there, and several other places on the web. And there are a few variations. This one is my own, only because I have not yet comes across the use of tissue paper for it, yet. Of course, original ideas are few and far between in this information sharing age.

So here's the skinny:
On Pinterest, they used printed seasonal or special occasion napkins with a clothes iron.
They are typically 2-ply; printed-ply and a plain backing-ply. Remove the plain backing, leaving only the printed 1-ply napkin. Wrap the printed-ply napkin around the pillar candle, and run a cooler-setting iron over it evenly, so that they wax melts and seeps through the napkin. Trim off the top and bottom hang-over pieces of napkin. And voila! Fancy pillar candle to fit in with your décor.

I didn't have any printed napkins. However, I have a habit of keeping tissue paper that comes in gifts and other packaging. And I have friends and family who donates theirs to me as well.

I picked out the colors I wanted. In lieu of an clothes iron (because I have no idea where mine is), I used my curling iron. I didn't use the barrel of the curling iron, but the hinged part used to hold the hair in place. When you're done, wipe the iron with a clean cloth or paper towel and the hot wax will come right off. I found the curling iron to be easy to use, I'm sure I'd have burned myself if I knew where the clothes iron was and attempted to use that.

It is fairly easy to see your progress, as the tissue paper (or napkin) becomes translucent.
With this candle, I wanted an overlapping effect of the different colors.

Play with ideas and experiment with your look, and enjoy!