These candles were a bit of a fluke . . . I had bought some doll pins with the purpose of making some angel ornaments, but I wasn't really convinced with the idea. My thoughts kept going back to those Victorian Christmas trees with real candles. I know, a total fire hazard but so pretty! That's when it dawned on me to make faux candles with the pins! Because they're pins, they easily attach to any tree stem and they give the tree a retro spin plus there's no worries of burning down your tree!
Supplies: 1- fine point paintbrush and large paintbrush 2- doll pins 3- acrylic paint in assorted colors 4- metallic or glittered acrylic paint 5- assortment of thin ribbon (ric rac, tiny pom pom trim, glitter ribbon) 6- flame template 7- white and light orange felt pieces 8- needle/ white and light orange embroidery floss/ white twine 9- course crystal glitter 10- decoupage glue 11- glue gun 12- gloss varnish
Step 1 -3: Create the illusion of wax drippings by drawing right below the pin's neck irregular waves. Use white acrylic paint and your fine tip brush to fill in the top part of the pin and pick a metallic or glitter acrylic for the base or bottom part of the pin. I chose silver metallic and red matte colors which worked really well. Make sure to apply at least 3 coats of paint to both top and bottom areas. Let dry 10 minutes in between coats.
Steps 4-6: Apply a medium layer of decoupage glue to the white part of your candle and sprinkle a generous amount of glitter. Since this glue tends to dry quickly, it's best to glue and glitter in parts rather than all at once. Let dry for at least 20 min. and shake off any excess glitter. To seal and protect the bottom color of your candles, apply at least 2 coats of gloss varnish and let dry for 15 min. Time to trim your candles! Cut assorted ribbon pieces (contrasting colors work best!) that wind completely around the candle's base. I used two strips of trim per candle. Glue gun into place.
Step 7-8: Now to make the wick and flame of your candle! For the candle wicks, cut small bits of twine. In order for these twine wicks to hold up the flame, reinforce the wicks by coating them with tacky glue and let dry. Now whip up your flames. Draw a flame on cardstock to make a template, then trace and 2 flames from white felt and cut free-hand two tear drop shapes from the orange felt (2 flames/ 2 orange droplets per candle). Assemble your flame: using orange embroidery thread, stitch the droplet to the felt flame (see pic), glue gun the wick's tip to the inside of the flame (the wrong side). Attach both flame felt pieces together with a blanket stitch. Finally, glue the flames to the top your candles.
Yay, you're done! Now it's time to pin your candles to the tree and admire they're glittery goodness, well that's what I normally do! Hope you've enjoyed these ornament tutorial posts. I had loads of fun making them for you! Now on to bigger things . . . holiday shopping, eeek! Sue
