Gifts - Stamped Candles

Sorry for falling off the blogging bandwagon for a few days. I ended up with a nasty cold and didn't feel like doing much of anything, especially when I had to be up and preparing for Christmas. But I'm back now and am back with a few more gift ideas!

The next idea is stamped candles. I have two versions to share; the first is a candle that has a stamped image directly on the candle and the second is what I call a candle wrap, which is basically a belly band for a candle! Both of these projects are super easy!

Stamping on a Candle:
Although it appears as if the image is stamped directly on the candle, it's actually stamped on a piece of tissue paper and adhered to the candle. Follow these simple directions for this technique:

1) Stamp desired image on a piece of tissue paper that matches the color of your candle.
2) If necessary, color image with markers, watercolor pencils, etc. (I used Copics)
3) Don't cut, tear out image, tearing as close to the image as possible.
4) Place torn image on candle, smooth any wrinkles
5) Use a heat gun to slowly and carefully heat the image. Be careful to not hold the heat gun in one position for too long or you'll get drips on your candle. Move slowly back and forth across your image. The wax will begin to melt and the tissue paper will melt into the candle. You need to take your time with this process, don't give up too soon. You'll know you're finished when you can't see any more lines of the tissue paper.

Candle Wrap:

This is pretty self-explanatory and there are so many options available for wrapping a candle. For this project, I used Basic Grey Figgy Pudding paper to wrap the entire candle. I then punched out a large scalloped circle, layered it with a plain red circle and then added my stamped and colored image to the top of both circles. I also added a piece of silver cording that was wrapped around the candle and through two eyelets before being tied in a bow.

This technique is a beautiful way to dress up inexpensive candles. Imagine purchasing a number of differnet height candles, stamping and/or wrapping them, and then placing them all on a hand stamped platter. Wouldn't that be an awesome house warming gift? It would make quite a presentation!! (Just be sure to remove the paper before burning the candle! Shooting flames would be all wrong!!)

I'll be back tomorrow with a final project and fun way to create an all enclosed gift package!

Happy Stamping!