By General Crafts Contributor Michelle
Make some pretty candles with any custom image you choose.
Here’s what you’ll need to make your own:
- White candles.
- Computer and printer.
- Cardstock.
- Images of your choice. (Here is a PDF of the images I used from The Graphics Fairy)
- White tissue paper.
- Scissors.
- Scotch tape.
- Waxed paper.
- Hairdryer.
To begin, cut a piece of tissue paper so it is roughly 8×10-inches in size. Carefully tape it to the center of the cardstock by using a few tiny pieces of tape along the top and bottom edges.
Bring up your images on your computer in a print program, and arrange them so they will print toward the center of the page. Position your paper in the printer so it will print onto the tissue paper covered side. Print the images. Carefully cut remove the printed tissue paper from the cardstock, and cut out around the images, leaving a bit of a border.
Cut a sheet of waxed paper big enough to wrap around your candle, and still have extra hanging over on both sides, so you can pull the waxed paper firmly around the candle and hold it. Position your printed tissue paper on the candle, carefully cover it with the sheet of waxed paper, pulling the ends to hold it tight and keep the tissue paper smooth against the candle.
Turn on your hairdryer, and hold it a couple of inches from the image, moving around the whole image. Keep heating the image until you see the wax begin to melt, the image darken, and the tissue paper disappear. It may take a couple of minutes for your hairdryer to build up enough heat, so be patient. Let cool for a few seconds, and then carefully peel back the waxed paper.
I think these candles could be a fun custom gift for teachers, or friends.
It could be fun to print and use pretty photos you’ve taken, as color printing works just as well for this project as the black and white images. Whatever images you decide to use, this project is fun, simple, and the result are really neat looking!
Happy crafting!
