#Happy 4th of July 2015 #Patriotic Star Candleholders

Happy belated 4th of July!!

Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays. From fireworks to family cookouts while celebrating our country’s freedom, what’s not to love? What better to start my blogging come-back with than some super easy patriotic star candleholders? As with all my craft projects, decorating ideas, & party planning, I’m all about creating masterpieces without spending a fortune. Simple, easy, & inexpensive is the way to go!

Patriotic Star Candleholders

I made a set of 4 of these candleholders for under $10 last year & added a cute table runner from Target this year to complete the look. Ok, let’s get started…

Supplies:

• glass candle holders (Dollar Tree – I used square ones.)
• small white pillar or votive candles (Dollar Tree)
• red & blue tissue paper
• small paint brush
• scissors
• pen or pencil
• Elmer’s glue or any craft glue that dries clear

The process is as simple as the supply list! Lightly draw draw stars on your tissue paper & cut out. I free-handed my shapes so each star varied in size & shape slightly, but if that is too difficult, you could use a stencil for more uniform stars though if you do this I’d have at least 2 size stars for some variety. I used 12 stars, 3 stars on each size, half blue & half red, but this is purely an artistic choice. I wanted just a few simple stars though more stars covering the candleholder more thoroughly & overlapping would be another cool look. Once you have your star shapes cut out, use your paint brush to simply apply a thin coat of glue to one side of your star & press on your candleholder in the desired location. Repeat til all stars are in place. Make sure corners are coated well so they don’t peal up though if this happens you can also go back & paint this corners down with a bit more glue. While the stars are damp they tear really easy so be careful, but the good thing is tissue paper is cheap & the wet glue comes off easily with a damp cloth so any mishap can be quickly fixed. Once you have added all your stars, simply allow glue to dry & add the candle of your choice. Basically it took me longer to type this than your whole project & probably even gathering the supplies did (LOL), but as you can see adding a little holiday flair doesn’t have to be time-consuming or expensive. This idea could be easily changed up to fit any holiday. You could even give your candleholders a hot soapy water soak to remove the glue & tissue paper & reuse them. You could cut out some green shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day, egg shapes for Easter, fall leaves, & maybe some holly & berries for Christmas… the possibilities are endless! Stay tuned for some other 4th of July decorating ideas & maybe a recipe or 2! 🙂

#DIY Spooky Candlesticks

Supplies: 2 glass taper candle holders (Dollar Tree has a great selection of these), black spray paint, heavy duty glue (I had some E-6000 lying around & it worked great), & 2 pillar candles (I found 2 orange pumpkin pie scent ones that worked perfect)

Glue the narrow ends of the candle holders together and let dry. Check out the instructions on your glue before hand to make sure you know how long it needs to dry completely! Remove stickers (if any). Then it’s time to spray paint. Several thin coats with adequate drying time in between work best to avoid drips in the paint & get a nice even coat!

Finished project… such an easy, cheap project to add a little elegant spookiness to your Halloween decor