Simple Holiday Candles

simple supplies

     I always read One Lucky Day’s  Blog (Love those Gypsies) and awhile back  the idea of using tissue paper to dress up candles was addressed.  Hummm, hadn’t ever done that before.  So I headed over to Heidi Swapp’s blog and found her video for making them.  A quick trip to Ikea for some candles and I was off to play. I used 7 Gypsies Tissue but there's also some just out from Tim Holtz with musical notes on it that would be stunning too.  

      

Heidi’s video is great but I thought I’d share some tips I learned while making mine. 

Tissue paper has little weight to it. Make sure your cuts are straight if you’re covering the whole candle as I did. I found using my big cutting surface and large straight edge, I got the best cut.

I held the paper to the candle with a very small amount of tape from a tape runner. Make sure your candle is parallel to the tissue paper, even the slightest angle will throw off your symmetry.  Test before you tape and commit.

Start heating on one side of the seam and work your way around in 1 inch increments.  Adhesion takes very little heat, keep the gun moving and smooth as you go. The very last thing I did was heat the bottom and top edges to make sure everything was adhered.

About $11.00 worth of material and I think I’ve got a smashing holiday gift for someone.  Then again, it may never leave my mantle!

Hey Noah, cancel the Ark!

Well, the sun is finally shining again in South Florida after an abysmal week of rain, flooding, water spouts and an unheard of tornado that touched down about 5 miles from home.  I was starting to feel like I lived in Seattle! The sun is never gone from my landscape for more than 3 hours and to not see it for a week was REALLY depressing.  But it's over and I woke to sunshine and a 20 degree drop in temperature this morning so all is good.

The rain made it just about impossible to take picture of what I'm working on but I did take a few yesterday    on some fun I had in the studio.  I'll download and post them later today, but right now, I'm off to load the trailer.  Leaving tomorrow bright and early for the Mount Dora Craft Fair.  I love this show and it's the largest one I do all year so the butterflies have started in my tummy. Set up is Friday afternoon and the show runs Saturday from 9-6 and Sunday from 9-5.  Stop by and say hi if you attend, I'd love to show you what I bring to shows!

Tim Holtz Cruise Recap

I’m Baaaaaaack!  A week in the Caribbean does wonders for creativity, especially when you spend it with Tim Holtz!  Had a wonderful time, learned a LOT, and made a ton of new friends. 

Here’s the recap:

Freedom of the Seas, my home for the week.

CocoCay and Freedom in the background 8:15 Am on Monday 

CocoCay Spirit Transport

The Man signing my apron(again)!

Too funny -Transportation on St. Thomas!

We're the big one in the middle!

from my balcony in St. Maartin

From the Beach on St. Maartin

New Friends - and a Happy Birthday!

Let's get busy!

Touring St. Thomas with Liz Thogersen, the Charm Swap Organizer Extrordinaire.

Liz and me in class

Shirley Hall - Beautiful charm necklaces! and Tammy Tutterow's mom!

Working on the Printer's Tray

Just some of the Loot we got!

Class Update: Because of the shop move, My Traveler's Tray Class at Paper Niche is now scheduled for Saturday, October 29.  I'll be teaching the Candy Dish and Treat Holder on Friday, October 14 @ 11:00.Hope you can join me for the fun!