DIY Striped Decor Taper Candles

 Hi guys! I have lusted for a couple years for those high end striped taper candles..but ..alas..they are $22-$29 for a pair and I am cheap as hell! I decided even if I did buy them, I would NEVER burn them..and if I was never going to burn them, why not make my own decor candles?

 I made these with tissue paper and paper napkins and Mod-Podge. I am a big believer in using what you have on hand. I had some plain taper candles I bought in a box of 6 at KMart for a couple bucks. I hit the Dollar General for the striped tissue paper and since I specifically wanted black and they didn't have it, I got some black napkins..all at $1 per package!

 I wasn't 100% sure how to do this so I tried a couple ways. Let me say (as the the late great Crocodile Hunter) DANGER DANGER DANGER (you have to imagine the Australian accent!) THESE ARE NOT MEANT TO BE LIT..EVER! (unless you want to try to burn down your house) That is why I will never sell these and advise YOU to never sell these..you never know what someone will do with them!

 If you have any worries about..sayyyy..your husband..lighting these, I would super glue a flame colored bead or a tiny bow to the wick to head that off at the pass! (What do you mean you can't burn these?? They're candles!) This is also another reason I would not get the expensive ones..I know one of my people would light those babies up and I'd have to hurt someone's feelings!

 I reeeeeally like how these turned out and they were pretty easy!

 This is what I used..note the pre-striped tissue paper..pretty sweet huh? NO measuring!I wish they had black too. It is probably available but I live in a small town and didn't want to drive an 80 mile round trip for black striped paper..defeats the cheapo purpose! I will keep an eye out next time I am in Walmart or Hobby Lobby though.

 So I snipped out the stripes and cut some paper napkins into comparable widths and separated them into one ply (they came as 2 ply). I left a small amount of white next to the stripes but if I do it again, I will trim as close as possible. It sort of melts in with the background, but if you are not using a white candle, it would show.Note on the mini stripe ones I cut the white back to the outer stripes before I glued them on.

 The paper napkin ones I wrapped the strip around and cut the length I needed. I then used a glue stick and applied glue to the reverse of the strip and just wrapped it around (allow a tiny bit of overlap) I made sure all my seams were on the same side so I could put it to the back. They aren't that noticeable though..I am just picky! If you are doing a pair, you need to compare the second taper to the first and make sure your stripes are on the same levels so they won't look wonky I just eyeballed the placement and all was good. I then applied a coat of Mod-Podge to the whole shebang and dried it in a candle holder. (You may want to leave the bottom inch or so bare so it doesn't glue itself to the candleholder!)

 I used the tissue paper stripes on the yummy pink ones and on these I just painted the back of the strips with Mod-Podge and then put them on.I think I like this method the best but I didn't try it on the napkins. I also prefer tissue paper to napkins..just a finer texture, but both work.

Then I added a coat of Mod-Podge to these and let dry. Can't wait to display these! I ran out of candles before I got to do all the ones I wanted..and these are less than $1 each! Too fun. (AGAIN..DO NOT LIGHT..THE PAPER MAKES THE OUTSIDE BURN UNEVENLY AND IT COULD TIP IN AND CATCH FIRE AND CAUSE MUCH MAYHEM!) I have used this method on pillar candles though and since the outside of those does not burn like a taper candle, you can light those..with proper supervision of course. I think this would also be cool on a faux candle and I plan to scout some of those and share those results also! Ideas ideas! Thanks for stopping by and have fun and be careful! Til next time! Julia