Blinged Out Candles...

Moving right along… For our next idea and inspiration I offer up to you-- blinged out candles, like the ones I made in all the pictures above. I love candles. A lot. They’re just one of those little luxuries (aside from beer) that can instantly bring me calmness.

During my visit to New York City last spring, I had the shakes from excitement on the first floor of Saks in the candle department. Yes, you heard me right they have a full-fledged, fabulously fun department DEDICATED to candles, or rather “Home Fragrances” (in retail PC speak) for fanatics like me. Aaah, just savor that a minute (la,la,la,la..)…. To say I was blown away (no pun intended) is putting it lite-ly (someone stop me please). They even had an army of home fragrance sales associates trying with straight faces to talk us all into paying $150-plus for an average size candle.. Say WHAT??? Um, I don’t think so! Or at least that’s what the rationalization processing center in the back of my brain (aka “Corporate Headquarters”) quickly advised me after intake and quick rationalization analysis. Even though I submitted the application multiple times, I guess those meanies at corporate decided that the cost to benefit ratio just wasn’t there… Darn it…

During my “browsing”, I did take notice that the high dollar candles all had something in common, the containers were all adorned and blinged out with something fabulous, which apparently the candle designers feel warrant that high dollar price. The wheels in my head (“the sub-office”) began to churn and yep, you guessed it, a new obsession/inspiration was born, I couldn’t get home to my super glue fast enough…

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I wanted to give you a project that you could use for fun gifts for teachers, co-workers, friends, etc… To begin this project, you want to make sure that you get a candle that smells decent. I can tell you from experience that both Target and Walmart make excellent and very inexpensive candles for projects like this and they smell good and the glass containers are perfectly plain just screaming to be blinged out. If you want something bigger, go to Pier One, Ross, Hobby Lobby (candles and holders are 50% off this week) or Marshalls and pick up a larger glass candle holder and buy a candle to fit separately.

Next, the world is your oyster as far as adornment or bling…. You can start with something you may already have, like an old/new brooch or pin. Look through your jewelry and see if there are any possibilities. How sweet would it be to give your sister, daughter or mother a candle for VD day with one of Grandma’s pins adorned to it. If you’re going for that old vintage look, go to your nearest antique store (my FAVORITE in Lufkin is the new Heritage Antiques) and dig through the old pins. You should be able to get an old fabulous pin at an antique store under $5.00. Don’t worry about removing the pin part, I’ll get to that shortly. The only thing you need to be mindful of is your adornment needs to have at least a small hidden area on the back that is flush/flat to put the glue on that will attached to the candle container. Some pins are round and are only flush on the perimeter, which is challenging to keep the glue from showing but NOT impossible (maybe you can use the locked pin part to place the glue?). Also, keep in mind your adornment proportion to container ratio, as it may not look good to put a large pin that sticks out because of the round-ness on a small candle container. ( a little bit sticking out is ok)

If you’re looking for adornment other than a pin, just go to your local craft store in the bead area and you can find all kinds pins and possible adornment things there. Just walk slowly through each aisle of the craft store, you never know what you’ll stumble across (like the shelf “R” for Bella’s teacher that I found for the candy jar pictured above). Also, you can use shells too.

Next, if you are using a pin/brooch, we need to remove the pin itself, unless it’s recessed. To remove the pin, you will need a pair of electrical pliers. Not big pliers, SMALL and narrow points, so you don’t completely damage the pin itself. Unhinge the pin part, take the nose of your pliers and there are two round wheel looking things that hold the pin and grasp one of the wheels with the pliers and GENTLY rotate until the metal breaks and each wheel pulls away. If your pin is too delicate and your starting to turn metal other than the wheel, you may have to use wire cutters and cut away the wheels at the base or even simply use the pliers to turn the wheel down to the side where its flat (just cut the pin part with wire cutters). If you pull off the wheels and you have twisted metal upwards and it sticks out, just use your pliers to turn the metal to lay flat. (Sorry for so many details but I have discovered there are no two pins really alike).

I recommend for most average size adornment ( average-large size pin) use a gel super glue (gel super glue will not run and will stay exactly where you put it). YOU CAN use a glue gun and the adornment won’t fall off over time but if you pull REAL hard, it will (if I’m making them for me, I use the glue gun but for a gift, I use super glue). Next, figure out where you want the adornment on the candle container and then lay the candle container on the side on a towel (so the glue can rest and dry in the glue without the adornment falling and without you having to hold it for two hours) and put a small amount of super glue on all the flush/flat places of your adornment that will touch the glass. Next put the piece on to your container and hold for at least 60 seconds. Gel Super Glue does not set very quickly so you need to just let it rest on the glass until the adornment won’t move with a gently pull, which will take about two hours but still be careful as the super glue is not completely set for at least 6-12 hours, no matter what the instructions say.

It’s just that easy my little creative chicas! If you’re going to give your candle as a gift, simply wrap in cellophane and add a bow. Don’t limit yourself to just candle holders, think about using this exact technique to add bling to frames, glass ice buckets, wine glasses, journal covers and top of plain wooden boxes or ANYTHING! Let me know if you have any questions or need moral support. Email me for any troubleshooting..

I’m anxious to see what you guys find to adorn and WE WANT to see pictures of your fabulous finished products, this is “THE EXCHANGE” after all!

Enjoy and happy adorning!
Cheers!