Decoupage Candles

Over the holidays I made Decoupage Candles

using pretty French napkins that I found in 

one of my favorite boutiques. 

They were so easy to do, so I thought I would

share the technique with you.

Supplies needed:
Glass encased candles
printed napkins
decoupage medium or white glue
 1" wide paint brush
glitter
ribbon

I used glass encased 'storm' candles. 

I found these in the candle section of my local home-goods store. 

Any glass candle will work, 

as long as it has an area of straight sides. 

Curves are too difficult to cover. 

I fell in love with this beautiful design. 

You can use any napkin that appeals to you! 

Specialty napkins with a printed design are best. 

They are sturdier than the average table napkins.

You will want to find napkins 

sized to fit the straight sides of your glass candle, 

so keep that in mind. 

Open up the napkin and tear it in half along the fold,

as shown above. 

To do this, work very slowly. 

This will give you a lovely edge that looks like 

hand-made paper. 

This edge will be the top. 

Next, separate the ply. Most napkins are 3-ply. 

This is tricky and tedious to find the edge, but

if you don't separate the ply, the decoupage medium

will only grab the innermost ply and you will be left with 

a blank candle! 

So make sure you separate the printed ply from all others. 

Now you want to wrap your napkin piece around the candle

and cut to size. 

You will want to keep your napkin top in line with the wax

inside the candle for best results. 

Trim the bottom if need be. 

Now comes the fun part! 

You will need a glue-safe surface to work. 

I have a stiff plastic reusable mat, but a plastic garbage

bag will work, too! 

To decoupage you will need a decoupage 'medium'. 

I prefer 'Mod-Podge' in a Matt finish. 

You can also use white glue, slightly thinned with water
if too thick, but not 'drippy'. 

Pour some of it into a plastic dish and using a 1 inch wide

bristle paintbrush, brush your 'medium' onto the glass candle

where you will apply your napkin. 

Don't be afraid to go a little past the area - it will dry clear. 

This part is a little tricky. You will want to hold the napkin

perfectly straight up and down in front of the candle

and then gently tap that edge in place, holding the rest of the napkin

away from the candle. 

Gently tap (do not rub) along this edge as you gradually

adhere the napkin around the candle, working your fingers from top to bottom -

tap, tap, tap as you go around. 

Do not pull on the napkin, simply let it fall in place. 

Try to keep your fingers as dry as possible, using a folded paper towel

 as a blotter on your work surface. 

Once you get the napkin in place, gently tap around it to secure. 

The napkin will be slightly 'bumpy' and rough, but this gives it 

that hand-made paper effect. 

You may find that the napkin has stretched a bit due to the medium or glue, 

so if you come up with an extra flap at the end, you can cut this off

once the candle has dried, dabbing the edge with more decoupage medium

or glue to hold any loose edges in place. 

Once the candle is dry, you might like to apply some glitter to the rim! 

There are two methods - either use glitter glue and simply apply it to the rim, 

or fill a small plastic lid with loose glitter, apply a thin bead of glue to the rim

of the candle, and then dunk the rim in the glitter! The trick is to use a very thin line

of glue so it doesn't run. 

Here you can see it did run a bit, but I learned from my mistake! 

You can finish your candles off with a pretty ribbon tied 

around the rim for gift giving- 

but remember to remind your recipient to 

remove these when burning the candle. 

I made 4 to keep for myself, and a dozen more for gift giving. 

If you are doing multiples, it is easiest to cut and prepare your napkins
 all at once, while your fingers are dry,

before starting to decoupage. 

I hope this inspires you to give Decoupage Candles a try! 

This is a beautiful way to use up those pretty napkins

you may have left over from special occasions 

or holidays and they make lovely gifts all year round. 

xoxo


Today I am linking with: The Enchanting Rose and
Rooted in Thyme - Simple and Sweet Fridays