diy candle holder from silicone candle molds

just in case everyone is starting to get tired from the actual candles fix them a candle holder to spice it up (aka is this even starting the diy Christmas present season - maybe)

need

silicone molds

plaster/concrete/concrete based grout ...

a drill bit made for concrete

gloves, surface protection ....

the molds

popular question: but still not really a secret anymore. Most of the molds you can get on Ali express, they are usually affordable. just type in silicone mold for candles, soap, baking, resin ...

just make sure you look at the measurements because sometimes molds are smaller/ bigger than they seem on the pictures.

if you're not about that long of a shipping time just hop on etsy and type in same search parameters, you'll find a lot as well.

(how to get any mold into a candle mold:just take a needle and poke it through the silicone and feed the wick through with the needle)

get your plaster/ concrete ... ready

mix your medium according to the package (mine said don't use metal wich I kinda ignored until it was smelling weird)

so really just follow the instructions because as harmless as it seems, usually concrete and plaster have some kind of chemical reaction going wich makes it harden (sometimes it gets hot while reacting) so just be cautious

fill your molds and try to not work in lots of air while filling. its kinda hard to get air bubbles out once filled all the way to the top.

i felt mixing the medium rather thin avoids getting lots of air bubbles but definitely stretches the cure time.

i tapped the molds while filling on the surface like you do with cake sometimes to get the air out.

try to pop as many bubbles as possible.

i felt depending on the medium I used the outcome was different as well.

i had this idea when I had some grout leftover while I made a tile project, so i just dumped the leftover grout into a silicone mold. to get something cool out of the leftover.

this works not with every type of grout it has to be made from a concrete base, others won't be able to hold the shape, they will end up kinda crumbly

plaster seemed to work pretty good, building plaster as much as casting plaster wich is wayyy more expensive, so just pick what you fancy

the dill

once cured and de molded the only thing left is to drill a hole fitting for a candle

you can use a regular concrete bit in 10 mm to fit a small candle like these Christmas tree ones in or go all the way big around 18 mm for a full size candle.

i went with the small ones because i felt they were the right proportion for the molds, I felt full size candles would look too chunky and tall.

drill a hole on your desired place, you might need to tap out the drill hole a few times to get rid of the dust, and then your good to go lit.

i felt going super slow made the chances of pieces breaking from the edge of the drill hole smaller, so everything looks neat in the end.

if you want different colors just add acrylic paint into the water before mixing it in with the powdered plaster or concrete etc...

or just paint them afterwards, i've even thought about covering one in fake gold leaf ... get creative

when mixing paint into the plaster while wet and just swirling it in you can get cool patters like a marbled effect, or mix in small colored specs...

DIY giant check knit hat pattern

the instructions y'all wanted, and hopefully can use!

need:

9 mm loop needles

yarn (mine is size 7-9)

needle

scissors

start with 60 stitches on the loop

knit 5 rounds in one colour to make the brim

to get the check going add a second yarn and knit 5 stitches with pink (in this case)

when you change to green again make sure the yarn at the inside of the hat is long enough to prevent it from crunching up

so you basically change yarn every 5 stitches and let the 'unused' one follow along at the inside

once 5 rows of check are done, to change to color pattern just do 5 more of the last row, so in this case 5 green to finish up the last green check, and then 5 green on top of the pink check to start a new square and color pattern

( at this point you're at 5 rounds of just green for the roll up brim and then 5 rounds of check plus now the start of the 6th row changing the color pattern)

do 5 rounds of the second check row and change color again

again closing the 15th row with the last 5 stitches of pink and then doing the 5 first stitches of the 16th row in pink as well to change color pattern

depending on how big you want the hat do 3 or 4 squares in height (5 rows brim plus 15 or 20 rounds plus another 5 rounds to close up the hat)

the closing part

to close up the hat do one full round just as before in check

next round you gonna slip off one stitch of each check

knit the first two stitches as usual

take your left needle and stick in into the first stitch

loop it over the second stitch on the needle

this way you're reducing the number of stitches per check with every round, so this round every check is 4 stitches

knit the whole round like this and keep binding off one stitch per round in the following

next round you're left with 3 stitches per check

the more stitches you bind off the harder it is to still knit on the loop, so I like to use some extra needles

this is with two stitches per check left

knit until you're left with just one stitch per check

once you're at one stitch per check you should be left with 12 stitches

cut both of your yarns leaving a bit extra

take your needle and feed both of the yarn strands though

feed the needle through the last stitches (just where the knitting needle sits)

feed it round wise, same direction you have been knitting

pull your needles out and pull your yarn tight

you should be left with something like a yarn doughnut

feed your needle through the middle to get inside of the hat

sew the ends into the hat - and you're done

short:

60 stitches on a 9mm loop

5 rounds brim

15-20 rounds checked ( stitches alternating color)

5 rounds slipping one stitch per check off every row until left with one stitch per check

total of 25-30 rounds wit brim and closing rounds

diy plaster heads x Couch Magazin

a decorative and fun way to get a bit of artsy decorative sculpture into the house

need:

styrofoam heads (from the craft store/ dollar store, sometimes used as wig holders)

pen to mark the shape

carving tool such as knife

plaster

(as an alternative you can use craft concrete)

gloves to protect your hands

big brush to spread the plaster

Get a feel

mark the most pronounced parts of your head to have some kind go guide of what you wanna keep from the existing structure

( the first one I made I just went in with the knife and I felt you tend to cut away way too much way to fast - thats why its so small - so I felt its good to have some kind of guide)

get cutting

cut around your marked lines leaving the parts you want to have stick out.

I went around the ears first to give the head a pair in the first place, and then I started carving the face structure

keep your cool

it might look super weird at first and one might ask why you cut into the head in the first place. but goal is to create something that looks like roughly carved from stone or concrete, something along those lines

I tried to cut in big chunks to you get these flat surfaces next to each other. to make the nose area a bit more pronounced I cut into the eye area and made it a big flat surface to get rid of the eye lid shape on the styrofoam.

carve your heart out but don't do too much

you can basically carve away as much as you like. but once its gone its gone, so I would suggest to carve just thin slices and slowly work your way to the headshape you like.

I went ahead and cut away the base part around the neck and carved the neck as well.

a little heavier goes a long way

since the styrofoam is so super light I tried to give it some extra weight to get a safe stand. Usually these heads have a hole in the bottom to stick them onto something, I made the hole a big bigger with a knife to get more material in

once enlarged I filled it with plaster to get a heavy base and get the center of gravity to the bottom.

the cover

last step is to cover the whole thing in plaster. the brand I used is fast curing so I tried to mix just small amounts at once, otherwise you can be left with a big pot of cured plaster before you're done.

I like to make the mixture kinda thin, a little bit like thinned out peanut butter, so its spreadable with a brush.

the smear

cover the whole head in a thin layer and let it dry.

I felt layering thin layers and letting them cure in between was an easy way to get the whole thing covered.

I like the kinda rough and bumpy texture, if you're more after a smooth texture you can take a brush and dampen it with water to smooth out the plaster before fully cured.

once completely cured you can also easily sand it, same thing goes for craft concrete.

trust the process

take your time and just look what's happening while covering and if you like it, since plaster is so cheap you can always add a little more or smooth it a little more.

last thing to to is let them fully dry. usually plaster cures quite fast but is still damp and has this darker beige colour, wait a few days and you'll get a pure white fully dried head. I had mine placed near a space heater wich speeds up the process.