Project: Honor Candle

Project: Honor Candle

Inspiration: We're really interested in honoring our family on our wedding day, and that includes those who have passed away. The bouquet charms is one way we are doing it, but we wanted something more "public" as well, to let everyone know, particularly the aunts and uncles, that we are thinking about our several late grandparents. I liked the candles like this I saw online, but, knowing we couldn't do an open flame pillar, thought about doing a lantern.

I then remembered the craft I had pinned at one point about transferring images onto candles, and wondered if I could combine the two, rather than having a sign. I thought it was a nice opportunity to personalize the gesture to craft something meaningful.










Cost/Materials: You'll need a lantern with a big enough glass face that you'll be able to read the candle through it. I got mine at AC Moore - they have a great selection and this one was originally about $10 I believe, but I used a 40% off coupon to only spend $6 on it. The candle I used was flameless, for two reasons (1) to avoid any open flame issues with the venue, although it probably wouldn't create an issue, and (2) because I didn't want the candle to actually melt and result in disfiguring the transfer I was going to put on it. The candle did need to be real wax, though, for the transfer process to work. It's "Nicole" brand, purchased at AC Moore, and was relatively inexpensive. Other materials you need include white tissue paper (Dollar Tree), any piece of regular 8.5''x11'' paper, tape, scissors, a heat gun or hairdryer, a printer (inkjet worked fine) and something to protect your hands from the heat such as gloves.

How I Did It: I created my transfer image in Powerpoint. The first thing I did was check the size of the candle (how big of a surface did I want to cover, how tall was the candle, etc.) and then change the page size to make sure I worked within those constraints. Then I wrote our message in and used the same pictures (sepia-toned) of our grandparents that I had used for the bouquet charms. To keep them all the same shape, you can see the process in the photo (crop, mask to shape, basic shapes, oval). I then gave them soft edges since the backgrounds were all different.

The next, and toughest, thing to do is to get it printed onto the tissue paper. The first time I tried, I wrapped tissue paper all the way around the regular sheet of paper I had, and ran it through the printer. As you can see in the first photo, it didn't come out so hot. Thankfully, only a little ink and a tiny bit of tissue paper were wasted as I tried again. I found the best way to print on the tissue paper was to cut the tissue paper down to just larger than the size you need, and then tape it within the boundaries of the paper you're sticking it on, in order to hold it taut. Set the printer settings to "transfer paper" (just make sure this doesn't mirror the image!) and quality to "best." This resulted in the image printing much more slowly and coming out with higher quality/fewer wrinkles. After this, I didn't want to risk tearing the paper too much when I was separating it from the 8.5''x11'' base paper, so instead I just cut through both papers so that the two fell apart with no problem.

The next step was to wrap the tissue paper around the candle and start heating it up. I used a hairdryer for this, though I am sure a true crafting heat gun might have worked more easily. What happens is the wax starts to melt and basically soaks through the tissue paper, absorbing it into the candle. You can see it starting to happen in the picture to the right, in the spots where the tissue paper starts to become clear instead of white. 

You'll want to work quickly once you see the wax soaking through, because if you let it go to long, things will start to morph. If you get to a point where it's starting to pool, it's okay to let the candle cool down and solidify and start again later before things get out of control. Same goes for any little pockets/air bubbles that come up, like this one you can see on the right side of the candle. I waited until it was cool, then gave it a concentrated shot of heat and bravely smoothed it down with my finger.

The Outcome: Here it is in the lantern! The candle looks cooler when you can see it flickering, but you get the idea.

Lessons Learned/Tips: It gets hot holding something that you're using heat on! I ended up grabbing a kitchen mitt (see photo left, ignore toilet) to protect my hand, however I didn't realize it had some bits of crumbs on it.. which ended up melted into the back of the candle. I was able to get most of them out, but just make sure any hand protection you use is clean! And lastly I'd recommend that depending on where you're going to put the candle that you decide whether you want one that is scented or not. I hadn't realized this one was scented until I got it home, and it wasn't a big deal to me, but if you were going to use candles on the tables of a reception, you'd probably want them to be unscented so that the candle scent doesn't clash with or overpower the food.

Would I Do It Again: Yeah, this would be a fun craft to use in the future for other purposes, e.g., maybe transferring photos onto candles for an party or to give as a gift or something like that.

Project: Message in a Bottle

Project: Message in a Bottle

 Inspiration: I saw images like these online and really liked them. The idea of the "year anniversary" was cute, but I heard a couple heartbreaking stories about parents and grandparents who were sad to put things into bottles they thought would outlast their lives (e.g., a 50 year anniversary), and that made me sad, and I don't want any sadness! So I opted for a "leave any message" bottle, that we'll decide together when to open. Maybe after the honeymoon, maybe in one year. I wouldn't be surprised if we're unrolling notes on the plane ride to whatever honeymoon destination we choose.

Cost/Materials: Large bottle with a wide enough neck to let the notes in and out of it ($5 at Christmas Tree Shop), paper to print your note template on, some cardstock/heavy paper to reinforce the hole, a paper cutter to get even lines when you cut them up, a hole punch (or three hole punch) to put holes in the side, a 3/4" diameter circle punch (or just some circle reinforcement stickers), a tape runner, and string so that people can tie their notes up when they're done. (N.B., the string is important! Just because someone can roll a note up small enough to drop it in doesn't mean it will stay rolled up enough for you to be able to shake it back out of the bottle!). For the directions sign, I put mine in an acrylic 8'' x 10'' frame (<$2 at Christmas Tree Shop) and added other decor I had left from other projects (chevron paper, paper flower, etc.). You can do whatever you want to hold the note sheets in, but I purchased and stained a small wood tray (by ArtMinds Simply Surfaces at Michaels).

How I Did It: I made the note template in Microsoft Word, leaving some space in the left margin for where the hole would go. I tried a few different configurations/sayings, and my fiance helped me decide on the one I used ("Message for the bride & groom, from: _____". I used the "from" because sometimes I've seen at weddings activities like this and there's no direction to leave your name, but I'd love to know who the notes come from. They can always leave it blank if they want to share something anonymously, but I like the reminder to share who it's from. I printed these and cut them up, then it was time to add the string. To make the holes sufficiently strong, we (read: my mother) created reinforcements. As you can see in the picture, she punched out a bunch of yellow circles, then we used a tape runner to stick those to the note templates, then used the hole punch to put the hole right through the middle of the two. Then we added string, about 12 inches, to ensure people would have an easy enough time wrapping it around and tying it off. 12 might seem like a lot, so feel free to play around, but you'll find since it is automatically halved when you tie it on, then loses some as you wrap it around the note, it's really not all that much. For the "directions" sign, I made it in Microsoft Word using some fun fonts I got from dafont.com. I think picking a few fonts to use throughout the event/decor is a nice way to tie different types of decor together, and it helps it look a little fancier than if you're using good old Times New Roman.

The Outcome: Here it is!

 

Lessons Learned/Tips: The first time I tried making this, I didn't reinforce the holes where the string was. This resulted in the string tearing out when you went to tie up the note, because the paper wasn't quite strong enough to endure any pressure. This can be addressed one of two ways: (1) reinforce the holes, like I did above, or (2) print your template directly onto thicker paper/cardstock. Doing the latter would generally make this project cost more, but it can save you frustration!

Would I Do It Again: I'll have to re-evaluate this one after the wedding to see how successful it was, but overall I don't regret my efforts here. I might have printed the note sheets on cardstock to save the painstaking process of reinforcing all those hole punches, but what's done is done!