diy wax sheet candle decoration

Just as easy as peeling a sticker

Need:

wax sheets

candles

craft knife or a needle

cutting mat

ruler & tape

checked candles

tape your wax sheet onto the cutting mat to prevent it from sliding around while you cut

measure your desired size of check (I went with 1 cm) and cut strips lengthwise

the wax can be sticky and probably will stick to your ruler, but it should peel off kinda easy

once you have a few strips align them and tape them onto the mat.

cut the strips into little squares

start at the top of the candle and press the wax onto the candle, it should stick with the help of your body temperature.

I like to keep the protection film on, so nothing sticks to it while working on the candle

you can mix different sizes of rectangles and squares

run the tip of a knife or needle underneath the protection file to peel it off

wavy candles

cut shapes from your wax sheets

you can use the shapes itself and the leftover to decorate the candles

these ones are wrapped in leftover cuttings from making blob shapes

for the advent candle I cut organic strips and blobs and layered them

just go wild and try what comes to your mind!

art candles

print an artwork thats kinda easy shaped, ideally something like cut outs. these ones are matisse.

cut out the shapes

put them on a wax sheet and run a needle around them.

you can try a knife as well but I felt a needle was easiest

peel off the shapes and put the piece back together, press the pieces on.

wax sheet options (amazon affiliate)

sorry in advance if you can't source them from where you live, but I bet you can go on recommended products or type in wax sheet candle decor etc ... I'm trying - but unfortunately I can't cover every location

AD Germany x atpp

mixed media coasters

click on picture for the article

Beginner level - air dry clay

need

air dry clay

rolling pin

cutter knife

paper to be used as a template

cutting board to have a flat drying surface

sand paper and acrylic paints if needed

if you wanna plan ahead how the shapes will look once stacked onto each other you can draw them on paper and play with the look of it until you’re happy with the arrangement, you can also just start cutting and find your shapes as you go

roll the air dry clay into sort of thin pieces, don’t leave it too thick, cause really thick pieces can form cracks and deform while drying

cut your shapes freehand or around your templates and put them on little wooden cutting boards to dry. don’t use plastic film or plastic boards to dry the clay on, it will warp and dry irregularly, because the bottom of the piece is sealed with the plastic, use some kind of porous surface and turn the pieces every few hours for ideal flat coasters

once the clay is dry throughly you can sand it to make the surface and raw edges even smoother. painting them a bunch of fun colors is also an option for those who love a pop

stack and decorate!

intermediate level - wood

need

different kinds of wood

jigsaw

sandpaper

paper and a pencil for the templates

wood oils, stain or paints if needed

I got the wood as leftover pieces from the hardware store, usually they are super cheap and rather small pieces, wich is perfect for projects like this

since wood is way sturdier than air dry clay you can plan much bigger projects like a big tray to act as a base for the smaller shapes. plan your shapes on paper or just go with the wood options and sizes you found

draw your shapes onto the individual wood pieces, I made three different sizes from every kind, but you can do them as you like of course

use a rather narrow blade in your jigsaw to cut easily around curves and edges

use sandpaper to get rid of chips and rough edges

you can oil the wood or stain it, paint it, as you like

expert level: acrylic glass

need:

plexi- / acrylic glass pieces at least 5 mm thick

jigsaw with a fine blade

pen to work on foil

fine sandpaper

make sure your plexi - or acrylic glass is poured and not extruded, you can’t cut the extruded kind with a saw. really make sure your blade has super small/ fine teeth to avoid cracks while cutting

leave the protection film on the glass until your done! use the pen to draw your shapes onto the foil, and cut really slow to avoid heat build up. especially if you’re cutting close to the edge of your slab of ‚glass‘ go slow and try to not bend your glass, to avoid cracks. don’t push the blade through the glass, let the saw do the work and cut super slow, smooth and steady

you can sand the glass like wood to get rid of wobbly bits at the edge

peel of the film - wich is really satisfying

decorate

Hack:

don’t waste the rest! used the small leftover pieces to cut little shapes used as decorations or gift tags, you can do the same with the wood leftovers!

diy wooden christmas tree criss cross

the flattest and most low maintenance one you'll ever own

Material:

2 pieces of wood (mdf 10mm) I went with 80 cm by 120 cm

jigsaw

sand paper

a round object as template

ruler and pencil

thick paper to make yourself a template to draw around

thin paper like silk paper thats kinda see through to put on top your drawing to make a template

paint

so I divided my piece of wood in half width wise, 80 cm in half and made a middle line at 40 cm.

height wise I divided the 120 cm in 4 pieces, each 30 cm high

i made myself a template 40 cm wide and 30 high wich I could use for the 3 tears below the top and I flipped it to mirror the pattern on the other side.

I kept the 90 degree corner up top to have a guide and a straight line to align with my middle line.

on the right side I just tried some designs and freehanded a bit.

but I decided on a symmetric pattern pretty quickly wich way why the template was a safe bet.

you can totally freehand a tree if you like, but you have to make sure to have a matching middle line, to be able to put the pieces together.

i had this random lamp foot around because I want to upcycle it, so I just used the foot as a round guide. its about 12 cm in diameter.

I placed it around to create a stomp and then the shape of a tear.

its easiest if you do leave the 90 degree corner up top and just connect the angled line (top of the branch) and the stomp on top free hand.

once I had a shape I liked on the wood I took my see through paper and put it on top and perfected it on there, the I glued it onto a piece of thick cardboard like paper and cut it out to have a stable template to handle around.

for the top tear I put a big circle at the tip and then I put my template on top and connected it, but I cut off the third 'circle' to make it shorter.

once I hace the whole tree planned out I made the stomp a little bigger to give it more structural stability

i also went ahead and put the markings for the slit next to the middle line.

since the mdf I used is 10 mm thick you have to have a slit a least 10 mm. I measured 6 mm from each side of the middle line, wich made my slit 12 mm.

to be sure it fits.

to have two pieces, that fit into each other and to create a cross shape you cut the slit from the bottom to the exact middle on one mdf board and from the top to the middle on the other board.

like so.

I cut the mdf outside, cause its a loooot of cutting and saw dust.

make sure you try your fit before heading inside, sometimes you'll have to make small changes to make it fit perfectly.

I accidentally cut into the shape a little at one spot

and patched it with wood filler before I painted. things happen...

then I went ahed and primed the mdf, since mdf is kinda nasty with paints, it sucks it up like a sponge. so make sure you prime and seal the wood.

I then painted it an off white cream colour (actually the leftover from the dresser)

I left the pieces leaning onto the wall to dry, wich was not the best thing cause they warped a bit because of the humidity in the paint, so make sure they're straight when drying

let your paint fully dry before you slide the pieces together, otherwise they might dry when tucked into each other and its a paint to get them back out

I went an put in some little eyelet screws to put ornaments on if needed

but honestly can't decide if I like it better with or without the ornaments, we even thought about using it as advent calendar to hang little pouches on, also an option