There are quite a few gifts to buy during the holiday season. Whether it’s a hostess gift, teacher gift or something to say “thanks”, my goal is to creatively DIY myself the gifts using as little money as possible. Therefore, I shopped the dollar tree and found everything I needed!
Here’s what I came home with. I spent only $15 and this will make 6 gifts! I did not include the tape and glue I’ll be using since I have that at home already. But everything I need, is right below!
I started with the gift I was most curious to create. I found this glass candle holder and wanted to give it a Christmas flare. I found glitter at The Dollar Tree and the rest was history. Here’s how I made it.
To make this candle holder you will need glitter, clear glue and a paint brush. The other very important ingredient is the painters tape. I was really excited about the glitter I found at the dollar tree because it has six different colors and they all build upon each other.
The first task is to figure out how to place the painters tape. I started with one long strip and wrapped it around like a candy cane. This presented a couple of problems. The first one was that it made an unending line and since I wanted to use multiple colors of glitter, it meant that I would have to blend them. That did not sound fun. My second attempt at taping was to make lines. They ended up being uneven and I just knew i was not going to like it.
My third attempt was the charm! I took the smaller pieces and started from the bottom and angled the tape towards the top. I was still able to get the twisty look like the candy cane, but was able to make six separate lines to fill for my glitter! They were not perfect, but it really did not matter. I made sure the tape was really firm against the glass.
This is what it looked like after I applied the first color. Glitter everywhere!
To get that look, I applied the clear glue. After applying the glue, I then took my paintbrush and brushed it evenly over each edge and in the middle. This is a really important step! I wish I had taken a picture of the brushing at this point, but I only have two hands. I needed three.
I just kept working my way around the glass candle holder. What is great about a candle holder of this size, is that it was really easy to put my arm in the opening to keep it steady. This allowed me to keep working on the glitter while the other parts were drying. It was naptime – it was game on and get it done time. 🙂
Once I had added the glitter to each line, I started to immediately remove the tape. I didn’t wait for it to dry, in the fear that the glue would glue itself to the tape. Again, since it was easy to handle with my arm in the opening, this step went pretty quickly. Look how clean the lines look!
My final step was to take a paper towel and wipe off the glitter from the inside. There was glitter everywhere!
Check out my DIY mess!
All in all, I LOVED how this turned out. I’m thinking about making a few more and using them as candle holders on my mantel. Oh wait, this is a gift. 🙂 With the glitter you can easily customize it to school colors.
Total cost for this project was only $3!
Stay tuned! I’ll be sharing each of my creative adventures from the original 15 items I purchased.
What DIY Christmas gifts are you making this year?
Comments & Reviews
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They look great. I just may have to go find some vases as well 🙂 A tip on controlling glitter – use a cookie sheet. It contains the glitter,somewhat, and makes clean up way easier
Great idea! I will definitely do that next time. 🙂
You could always use an LED candle. Much safer around children and pets and those who forget to extinguish!
I love this craft! It is hard to believe it was only $3. My only question is the type of glue used. This may be silly and a little pyranoid but have you tried burning a candle in it using the Tacky glue. I have made a similar craft using plastic tiles and worried about lighting a candle in it so I use it for a pen cup. I worry that the glue is flammable and will light on fire. I am curious as to your thoughts on this. Thanks.
The candle holders are cute! We made snowman candy jars for gifts this year. They are super cute and the kids were able to help. We are also making Christmas trees .