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How to Make Hand Painted Candles
Jan
Fun fact: Painted Candles made with acrylic paint are pretty, but they’re not safe to burn. Just consider, burning paint and breathing it in. It’s not ideal. There are chemicals and substances to create such vibrant color that react to heat in lots of different ways.
What is best is to use wax to hand paint candles. It’s beautiful and fun! So let’s make them!
How to Make Hand Painted Candles with Wax
Supplies:
Candles to Paint (They could be votives or tapers – white is easiest to get started)
An Array of Colored Tea Light Candles
Acrylic Paint Brushes (Small Brushes; Flat or Round Tips)
Paper Towels
First, light the tea light candles so they begin to melt. I always melt a white tea light candle as well so I can lighten and brighten the colors. Just like paint, you can mix and match to blend colors, but you have to work extremely quickly.
Next pick a pattern. Do you like flowers? Leaves? Hearts? Stars? What about your placement? You can create even rows in which all painted shapes line up vertically, horizontally or both. Or do you want the placement to feel more organic with the shapes spread around in different areas.
Once you have a plan, dip your paint brush in the melted wax and immediately brush it onto the candle. Work quickly! If too much wax builds up in your brush bristles, just take a paper towel and gently scrub or pull the wax out. The wax will often look very light at first and may need several coats of wax to get your desired color.
Drawbacks to Making Hand Painted Candles with Wax
With acrylic paint, you can make much more detailed shapes and images. You can also paint carefully to make your paint smooth and flush with the candle.
When you are painting with wax, the wax is thick and so the candle will not be perfectly smooth. The areas that you paint will be raised. Additionally, it’s hard to capture as much detail as you can with acrylic paint. So simple shapes – think simple hearts, stars, flowers, or just cool shapes will work best. Here are some ideas!
You don’t have to use any of the shapes you see here, but these are a great starting off point to the shapes you want to choose for your candles! You can mix and match designs, colors, and more to make something that is truly unique.
Video Tutorial Hand Painted Candles with Wax
A picture is worth a thousand words so hopefully these video tutorials inspire you! Ready to show us what you made? We would love to see it! Tag us on social or tell us in the comments below. Ready to make even more candles? Check out the tutorials below.
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