BML Guest Post - Crystal from Green Zebra Crafts

Stamped Pillar Candles

Hello! My name is Crystal and I am excited to be able to guest post today! I am an avid crafter and have been creating things since my early childhood. My favorite things to create are handmade home decor, handmade accessories and scrapbook layouts. You are invited to follow me on my blog at GreenZebraCrafts; where I am giving away free printable Birthday and Thank You cards.

I hope you like my tutorial on how to create your own custom candles. I made these for gifts at Christmas time and everyone thought they were so cool I decided a tutorial would be a good idea. It’s an awesome way to create any look you want on a candle!

Supplies:Any Background Stamp

Pillar Candle – Cream or White

Tissue Paper

Stazon Ink Pad – Black

Distress Ink

Heat Gun

Wax Paper

Directions:

Cut a piece of tissue paper that will be the height of your candle and will fully wrap around the candle.
Ink up your background stamp with black stazon ink and stamp on the tissue paper. You will continuously stamp all over the paper till it’s covered. I don’t think it has to be perfect… If you look at mine closely, you will see it’s lighter in some areas.

If you want to “age” the paper then carefully sponge on with distress ink. I used Ranger’s Inkssentials Blending Tool . Since the tissue paper is very fragile you will want to do this carefully. I “aged” the opposite side that I stamped on.

Wrap the stamped tissue paper tightly (without ripping) around the candle and then wrap a piece of wax paper over that. The wax paper does not need to be the exact size of the tissue paper. It can be slightly larger. Hold this in place. (To help hold it in place, I took a straight pin and pinned the wax paper and tissue paper together)

Turn on your heat gun and let it heat up for a few seconds. Then start heating the candle till the wax starts to melt. You will see your stamped image start to get darker as the tissue paper melts into the candle. (It will look wet) Keep moving the heat gun till the entire candle looks this way. It should just take a few seconds. You don’t want to melt the candle too much in any one spot so keep your heat gun moving.
Now remove the piece of wax paper. You can use it to smooth out any possible drips while the candle is still warm.

I added Swarovski Crystals to mine in random spots. I think it adds a touch of elegance to it.

That’s all there is to it. You can use all kind of background stamps or colors…What a cheap and easy way to customize a candle.

I used a harlequin stamp for the other candle, then added silver stickles to the center of the diamonds.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and will try a candle or two out for yourself!

Crystal 🙂

GreenZebraCrafts