Christmas Silhouette Candle Holders

poehere
Bronze Post Medal for All Time! 105 Posts

Christmas Silhouette
Candle Holders - different colored jars with lights inside During the holidays I end up burning more candles or even lighting tea lights around the house. It is festive to see all the bright lights from the tree and other decorations around your home. This year I wanted to give my friends and family some candle holders they could place on their dinner table for Christmas.

I make faux drip wax candle holders and wanted something a bit different. That was when I came up with the idea to make silhouette candle holders and add a Christmas image to the glass. When you light the tea light the image comes out. These are so simple to make and a lot of fun to use around your home or give to others to enjoy.

Total Time: 4 to 5 hours

Yield: 2 candleholders

Supplies:

2 to 3 printed silhouette images
2 recycled glass jars
Mars black acrylic paint
2 to 3 paintbrushes
wood glue
2 to 3 food colors or colored ink
jute
scissors
2 tea lights
hot air gun

Steps:

On your computer, find some silhouette images that you want to use. Print them out and cut around the image. Place the image on the inside of a clean jelly jar. I normally just freehand paint my images on the jar. Using stencils or a printed silhouette image will make it easier for people to make this project.

Christmas Silhouette Candle Holders - printed image on the inside of a jar

Place some Mars black acrylic paint in a container and start to paint the image on the outside of the jar. You will need to paint the image first and take a look at the end results. Normally it is a good idea to paint two or three layers of paint over the image. This way when the light shines through the image there are no clear spots.

Christmas Silhouette Candle Holders - image painted on the outside of the jar

Once the paint dries on the jar, place some wood glue in a container, and add your food coloring or colored ink.

Christmas Silhouette Candle Holders - wood glue in a jar lid with yellow color added

Mix the ink or food coloring into the glue and start to apply the glue to the jar. In this project you need to be careful how much glue you add to the jar. You don't want a super thick layer of glue, but you want enough glue to coat the jar and see the color.

Christmas Silhouette Candle Holders - apply colored glue to the outside of the jar

After applying the glue to a small area on the jar take your hot air gun and start to dry the glue to set it in place so it won't run. There is no need to dry the glue completely. Just be careful to not set the hot air gun too hot. Your gun should be set to 200 degrees, do not set the gun hotter than 230 degrees. Hotter than this will start to burn the glue and make the jar too hot to handle.

Christmas Silhouette Candle Holders - using air gun to speed up drying

Finish applying the glue to the jar and using the hot air gun to start the drying process. If you want, you can add a second color to the top of the first color.

Christmas Silhouette Candle Holders - jar lid with second color

Now set the jar aside to finish drying. I never dry the jar completely with the hot air gun. I like the way the glue dries naturally and it makes it look like candle wax has dripped down the jar. If you are in a hurry, you can put the jar in the oven and bake it at 170 degrees for around 20 minutes.

Christmas Silhouette Candle Holders - jars drying on window sill

Now add your jute around the neck of the jar. You will use the wood glue to glue the jute in place. Once the glue has dried, it is now time to add your tea light and enjoy your new candle holder. Once the light shines on the inside of the jar the image will appear through the drip wax look on the jar.

Christmas Silhouette Candle Holders - ready to wrap with jute around the top

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Shari P.

December 16, 20190 found this helpful

I'm confused. The jar should look like the final picture? Maybe it's just me, but I really don't understand this craft. Also, how many of us have a jot air gun? Would a blow dryer for hair work?

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poehere
Bronze Post Medal for All Time! 105 Posts

December 16, 20190 found this helpful

I was making a set of these jars to hand out for the holidays. I was taking photos and writing up the post. I guess that is why the jar does not look the same. For your other question, I have used a hair dyer to make this craft. It will take a little longer to do the project and that is the reason I use the hot air gun.

I do believe that I said that you can actually dry the jars in the oven at 170 degrees for 20 minutes if you do not want to use a hot air gun or a hair dryer.

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