Handmade Christmas

My mind has been reeling with tons of projects, ideas, links, bookmarks and so many things that I don't quite know which way to turn.

Do you ever find yourself surrounded by a ton of things you want to try and make and just an overwhelming feeling of not knowing where to start?

I decided that I really needed to get down to business and start figuring out what I'm doing for Christmas gifts.  Truth is, and I know many of you will concur, things are too expensive nowadays and there is just not enough money to go all out.

So even though I did do some homemade gifts last year, I plan on upping the ante, and really coming up with wonderful gifts for family and friends.

I'm about to show you a super easy gift, using the simplest of items, that will make your jaw drop. I won't even mention the possibilities that can come out of this project because I'm so excited at what I could make, I'm already making lists and jotting down ideas.

Back in the beginning of the year, I was doing my usual blog hopping when I came across a craft that stopped me dead in my tracks. A Girl in Paradise had put up a tutorial on how to transfer ink to a candle. HELLO!

Of course I immediately bookmarked it and then as with all the other thousands of bookmarks I have going, I forgot about it until I started thinking about Christmas last week, and found it again.

I was out running errands earlier and remembered to buy two simple white candles, just to give it a try, see if the project indeed works before I really can count on it as gifts.

Not only does it work, but OH.MY.GOSH!

Let me show you what I did, for the original tutorial go on over to A Girl in Paradise :)


Personalized Candles

Tissue paper
printer paper
wax paper
markers
tape
heat gun or hairdryer (it's what I used because I don't own a heat gun)

You're going to start by cutting out a piece of tissue paper about the same size as your candle...then you place it on top of some printer paper so that the marker doesn't bleed through.

Write or draw whatever you wish on it.  I just kept it extremely simple and used "Trust the Lord with all your Heart."   Best part about this is that you can have your kids draw something for the grandparents, or write a note or whatever you wish.  Be creative.

When you're done, pull the tissue paper away from the printer paper.  Cut away as much of the tissue paper as possible.  Place it on the candle.

Now my tissue paper was all wrinkled, it's what I had on hand and I didn't want to have to run back out to buy more....trust me, it still works, just smooth it out as much as you can before you write or draw on it, and when you place it on the candle just stretch it nicely.

Then cut out a piece of wax paper bigger than your candle.  You need it to go all the way around and give you some extra to hold on to for the next step.  Smooth it out nicely, and pull it tight over the tissue paper.

Grab your heat gun or hair dryer, turn it on and use a back and forth motion over the design, about 30 to 40 seconds is what she suggests.  It will get pretty hot on your fingers so be careful, I just kept moving it and actually turned the hair dryer off for a second or two to cool down then back again.

After that time, gently pull away the wax paper and your design should be transferred to the candle, the tissue paper pretty much disappears. 

Perfect! I was so shocked that it worked and so excited.

I immediately followed the rest of the directions to transfer a photo onto the candle. Now listen, I was scared I was going to get my paper all jammed in the printer, but it actually worked.

I cut out tissue paper to fit on a sheet of printer paper, smoothed it out and put a little tape on all sides to hold it in place. Then I fed it into my printer and also crossed my fingers. LOL

It worked PERFECTLY.

Just follow the rest of the directions for the transfer.

By the way, see on the left side how my wax paper is a little wrinkled...I did pull it tighter before I started the hair dryer. :)

I don't know about you, but I think there are going to be a lot of these candles floating around my house...I'm thinking a different theme for each room, different sayings, pictures etc. And Christmas time......a snowman, Santa? Oh yeah!

I'm heading out to buy more candles tomorrow.

Hope it gave you all an idea for a perfect Christmas gift this year :)