Christmas Hard Candy Candle project

Jazzing up candles for Christmas
Inexpensive Christmas décor is hard to find in any store, however, using what you have around your home or can buy really cheaply can be fun and cost effective. Many times if done with patience and care, your project can look high end and attractive and can be done for many different seasons and holidays. Try this inexpensive, fun and cute idea:

Supplies needed:

• 3-4 Candles (you can use any size and color you like as long as they have enough girth to glue hard candy to)
• Low temp hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Hard peppermint candy several bags (the cheaper the better)
• old scratched/ damaged cds

Instructions:

• It is a good idea to have one spare candle to work on first when doing this project. The practice will be helpful since it will help you figure how to space your candies from each other for the best overall appearance. This will make doing the other candles a lot easier.
• Select the candle you wish to use, and place it on a paper plate. Working in a circular pattern, come up with the design you want. Starting at the top edge, not the top flat part but the edge, begin gluing your candy and placing evenly around the candle. You can use a cake turn table to make things easier if you have one.
• Doing alternate colored candies will give you the swirl effect you see in the picture provided with this article. If you do your first row one color and the second row another color of peppermints, then you will end up with a quilted or checkerboard type effect.
• Once you have covered your candles with the candies, it is a good idea to find some used or old scratched cd's that can be recycled. Place these under your candle. (I glue mine) and you can add little wreaths at the bottom or glue more candy around the base.
• Tip: Although the candles are lit in the photograph, I would not recommend keeping your candles lit for long periods of time. If you have any doubts, light the candle you did your “trial run” on and see how it fairs under controlled supervision to see for sure. Also do not do this project with young children and a hot glue gun. Even low temperatures can be painful on tender fingers.

For more ideas on holiday décor, see: How to recycle old lightbulbs.

Holiday decorating and color choices

Image by Zellaby via Flickr

With the onset of the holidays in full swing the urge to decorate our homes is the best way to get into the holiday spirit. However, there are homeowners that are intimidated by things like color. Being intimidated by the bold colors of the holidays send some of us into a tail spin. Do I use red and green in a beige room? Will my color choices clash and be tacky with everything else in the room?

There are a few things we can do to pull off a classy, polished and well designed room or, if it suits you an old fashioned and . The first thing we have to decide is which way you want it to go, and what sort of result do you want. Do you want magical timeless and classy, or do you prefer warm, old fashioned and homespun. Perhaps you'd like to add a little modern flare to the decorating scheme.

My suggestions:

For classy and polished

Image via WikipediaThis look screams magical and embodies the glow and magic that we associate with the holidays. It is flexible and the easiest because it will automatically work with your existing design scheme.

Keep colors simple, and let sparkles rule the design choices. Metallic ornaments, clear crystals, golds, and silvers and soft shades of white will give your holiday room a sparkle and refinement that will merge well with most existing designs. Use clear lights on your tree and make sure to repeat your lighting and color choices throughout the space. Keep colors to a minimum, no more than three ideally.

Designer tip- Don't be afraid to be creative. Use old jewelry to decorate mantle garlands, lamp shades, and even candles. Old dangling earrings look great hung from clear beaded garlands, and pearl strings. Just because you're going for classy and polished doesn't mean you can't be creative and use some of those wonderful jewelry pieces that have lost their mates in your jewelry box. For

For old fashioned and homespun

 Image via Wikipedia

Its all about home made and nature inspired décor.

When we think of the holidays from our youth, many times we remember that our parents decorated with reds, greens and every other color of the rainbow. Little focus was given as to whether it matched an existing décor scheme, and somehow, it always felt warm and welcoming. Didn't it?

You really can't go wrong with traditional colors if this is the look you desire. If it is somehow clashing with other things in the room, consider removing those things temporarily so that you won't feel uncomfortable with the end result. Using natural materials and homemade items in a room are an inexpensive way to get a great homespun holiday feel. Decorate mantles with pine branches, real pine cones, and candles. Drill three shallow holes in logs and inset tea light candles, fill baskets with pine cones, nuts and seed pods. Use lots of red and green checked and plaid ribbon as well. Chunky cuts of logs can be placed on your mantle and a great pedestal for large candles. Peppermint oils, nutmeg and cinnamon sprinkled in baskets and vessels of pot pourrie will keep the smells of the holiday season in mind too. No baskets? Use clay pots and sit around your fireplace hearth, fill with cinnamon sticks, twigs and pine branches, and as always, finish off with raffia, or great old fashioned ribbon. If you are using a natural Christmas tree, save any branches that you may have trimmed off for decorating.

Designer tip: Polish up old candles and restore their shine and luster with a little vegetable oil on a soft cloth.

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