Frosted candle holder

It is needless to say that candles are all over the place and there are so many wonderful ways to display them. One such way is with frosted glass candle holders, they might come in a bit pricey however so why not compromise? Have your lovely candle display but make it yourself, save a bunch of money (hey the extra money can go towards someones gifts this year!) and have a special personalized piece displayed in your home. Creating frosted glass pieces thankfully is not as difficult or pricey as it once use to be. For this project we will use shot glasses, whiskey glasses or others. If you are going to use store bought candles you will need to find glasses fitting them, otherwise you can make your own candle and make it fit the glass!

What you will need to create your frosted candle holder:
- A whiskey glass which you wish to frost. Again it doesn't have to be exactly that. Go to a dollar store and buy some cheap ones that would look cute frosted.
- Graphics software such as Adobe Photoshop to create your design. The alternatives to this are either drawing your design by hand or finding a design you like online and printing it out, it doesn't matter essentially so just see what works for you.
- A pencil.
- A pair of scissors.
- An Exacto knife.
- A few sheets of self adhesive printer paper. The kind used to make labels, just make sure you get the whole sheet as a sticker instead of the small pre-cut label stickers. You can find this in places such as Staples, OfficeMax or anywhere else where they sell office supplies. Or even better yet you can use Contact paper.
- Krylon Frosted Glass Spray. This comes in several colors such as white, grey, blue, purple and green. You can buy it online by a case of 24 spray cans for about 25 bucks.
- Scrap paper such as old newspapers to cover up and protect the surrounding areas and surfaces.

How to create your frosted candle holder:
- First of all you should come up with a design then transfer it either on the self adhesive printer paper or the Contact paper. Make sure you keep in mind that the parts of glass which you do NOT want frosted are the ones going to be covered by the paper.
- Now stick the paper onto your glass surface nice and even, make sure there are no air bubbles.
- Once your surface is ready use the Krylon Frosted Glass Spray to spray over the bare surfaces.
- Let it dry according to the manufacturers instructions.
- Very carefully peel off the paper you used to protect the glass.
Your very own frosted candle holder is now done, and its way better than those generic ones isn't it?

Homemade candle gift

Over the centuries candles have came a long way. From plain slabs serving a single, but very important, purpose to elaborate art pieces showing of craftsmanship of its maker. While we don't, in general, need them purely as a light source (except in extreme situations) we still use them in our every day lives.
They are given as gifts, used as mood setters or fragrance releases, as well as decor pieces. But with all of their multipurpose comes a price. Not only of monetary value, but the price of having to settle for the generic store bought as well for many of us. Quite a number of people don't realize how simple and fun it is to make your own candles and even better give them out as personalized gifts. Here I will show you how to make your own candles, the simple way.

What you will need to make your own candles:
- Paraffin wax. This can be bought at any of your local arts and crafts stores such as Michael's, Joann's or Hobby Lobby.
- Wicks, one per each candle you are making.
- A candle mold. You can either buy these shaped at the store or use make shift molds from plastic containers and pretty much anything that can withstand the hot melted wax.
- An optional touch gives adding the fragrance. These too are found at your local arts and crafts shop.
- Candle dyes in your choice of colors. These come in either the liquid form or as chips.
- A candle jar or a holder.
- A heavy pot and spatula.
How to make your own candles:
This process is fairly easy, however you need to use extreme caution as it can turn dangerous easily.
- First thing you should do is melt the paraffin wax in the heavy pot. If you can it is suggested you do this in a double broiler if not on nice heat while stirring so the heat would be distributed evenly.
- Once the wax is melted add your color and the fragrance according to the manufacturers specifications.
- Make sure you stir it in well.
- Now pour the melted candle wax into the molds carefully and add a wick to the middle.
- Once your candles are cooled you can take them out of the molds and you are all done.

Tips:
- It is suggested that its better to use an electric vs. gas stove. In case you have a mishap with the wax and it gets out of the pot there is less chance of it catching on fire on an electric stove top, wheres the gas one would make it catch in flames.
- You can add in non flammable objects to your molds before you pour the wax for fun effects.