Autumn Candle for Anything But a Card

For my “Anything Goes” Project at Anything But a Card I decided to make my mother a centerpiece for her table.  Since I have five cats decorating here is a challenge so I often give my projects to my mom.  Besides, she is my #1 fan.  I started with a plain pillar candle that I bought years ago (I have boxes and boxes of candles – I just love them so much!) and spruced it up a bit for the fall season.  Here is my Fall Candle for challenge #41:

 

What I Used to Make my Project:

Sequin Leaves (gold, red, orange)

Pillar Candle

Heat Gun

Ribbon (Dollar Store)

Mini Wooden Sign Embellishment

Leaves to adorn the top of the ribbon (Dollar Store)

Straight Pin, preferably with colored top

 

The sequins

I wanted to make something that my mom could actually use; in this case actually light.  So I had a theory about the sequins and I needed to see if it would work. I took my heat gun (now, I have a Weller Heat gun, it is actually used for paint stripping - I think - so it is HOT. However, please use caution regardless of what heat gun you use) and I heated a spot on the candle and stuck a sequin leaf in the soft wax.  Some of sequins held on the first try, some didn’t.  If a leaf fell off, I just reheated the spot and stuck it back on (it helped that my candle had sort of a rustic look to it) and then I heated the spot a bit more to “set” the leaf.   I found out that sequins melt really quickly, so if you need to set your sequins, you must reheat them with just a quick burst of heat. I let the candle sit for a few hours and then reattached the leaves that fell off when I picked it up. 

 

Close up of the cute sign

Then I cut a length of ribbon that matched the autumn theme of the candle.  I simply tied it in a bow – my ribbon was wired so the bow didn’t fall exactly like I wanted it to, but, it looked pretty.  Then I notched the ribbon ends and glued the wooden plaque onto the ribbon, not the candle. 

Lastly I used a straight pin with a red top to pin the three silk like leaves to the top of the ribbon. Being able to remove the large silk leaves was very important, since if they stayed on I am sure they would of been a fire hazard.  Everything

else can stay on the candle while it is being used as long as it isn't left unattended.  The ribbon is tied on, not glued on and the wooden plaque is glued to the ribbon.  As the candle melts the sequins should just fall with the melted wax. Besides, who knows how many of them will be left by the time I give it to her (just kidding - I hope!) 

There you have it! Honestly the entire project took me about an hour, and the longest part was getting the sequins to stick, as they would initially stick, and once the wax was cooled, they'd fly off. But they are fine if you don’t touch them (hehehehe).  In spite of the minor sequin trouble, I think this candle came out lovely! And I am proud to say I didn't buy a thing for this project; everything came from my stash (not going to say how I celebrated as it may incriminate me). There is still plenty of time to get your muse going and to make a project for Anything But a Card – as it says on the blog, “Whatever strikes your cre8tive fancy” (but, no cards!).  Fondly, Christi

I am entering my candle in the following challenges:
Allsorts - Anything But a Card
Really Reasonable Ribbon - #106, Winter Holiday & Ribbon
Quick Quotes Challenge - #45, Gratitude
Not Just Cards Challenge - #6, Anything Goes