I have another amazingly easy DIY Mother’s Day gift for you today. I love pictures and I love candles burning in my home. I thought I would combine the two using something like a sticker. I made these DIY picture candles for less than $10. The most surprising part of this project is that I used shipping labels to get the desired effect. The clear shipping labels have a bit of a frosty look to them which is perfect on a glass candle. The possibilities with this project are endless.
To make this project you need:
A glass candle holder: You can find one at goodwill like I did. It only cost me $0.50! You can use a circular candle holder or find a square one like I did.
Clear Shipping Labels: This is the post expensive part of this project. The large shipping labels were $10 for a set of 60. I found mine on clearance which helped with the cost. However, with 60 labels you can use these again for new gifts or hold on to them when you need…well, a shipping label. 🙂
Printer: I have a Samsung Printer and we love it. My printer only prints black and white and that works well for this project. If you have a color printer, you could really jazz up your candle.
The first thing you’ll need to do is to make your labels. You can use the automatic setting provided by your labels. I could not figure out how to add pictures to my labels using the automatic settings. I tried my hardest and googled my little heart out. If you know how to do that -please leave a comment and help us all out.
In the meantime, I found it easiest to create my own word document to insert the pictures. Here’s a few things to keep in mind.
1. Find out the margins of your labels. For me (Avery 18644), I set my margins to: top and bottom (.5), left and right (.156).
2. After setting the margins I placed two columns into the word document. This gave me a natural way to split the page. You can see from the picture above that I can easily see where my margins are.
3. When you’re inserting pictures into word, you want to make sure they have no text wrap. You can do that by “right-clicking” on the picture and scrolling to “wrap text” and then “none”. This will allow you to move the picture wherever you want it. Looking at my labels I could easily see where I needed to place them. Use a ruler and size them to where they’ll fit.
4. Before printing on your labels, print on a piece of paper. Hold it up with the labels and see if it’s centered on each label. Remember, you can cut out each picture, so it doesn’t have to be perfect. By printing it first on a piece of paper you are saving your labels – but then again you have 60 of them – so go wild. 🙂
Before I “un-stuck” the label, I cut them out. I made sure all the edges were even. Obviously, I trimmed it a bit more after taking this picture. I also measured the glass container. I didn’t want my label to wrap about the sides.
Okay, a little honesty here. I did not get a tape measure out or a ruler. Doing such would have taken a good 15 minutes of my time. My boys love to measure EVERYTHING in the house. That means a ruler or tape measure is hard to find – if even possible. I “eye-balled” it. I tend to do that a lot and it works out!
Peal off the back of the shipping label and place it centered on the glass. Easy! Seriously, they look like you frosted the glass – and you used shipping labels.
Your secret is safe with me!
Would you put one picture or four pictures on a square candle? I decided to go with one, but now I’m wondering if I should add more to the candle I made. What do you think?
Monica Tucker says
November 18, 2014 at 9:34 amdid u pin this??