Add some love to a plain pillar candle for a special occasion like Valentine’s Day. Simple tissue overlays can change the look of any plain pillar candle whether you purchase them or use your own. Add your own custom designs or use tissue paper that already has designs.

For this candle, I am using tissue paper with hearts.

Please read all instructions before beginning this project.

Equipment and Supplies:

• One Plain Pillar Candle (white, pink, red, or other solid color)
• Tissue Paper with Red Hearts or other Design
• Wax Paper
• Heat Gun or Blow Dryer that gets good and hot
• Tape
• Something to elevate and hold your candle while heating. A jar lid or upside down cup will work. (Optional – you may just want to hold it.)

Instructions:

• Prepare your pillar candle by using a soft dry cloth to wipe off any oils or shine from the outside of your candle.
• Cut a shape from your tissue paper. If your tissue paper already has a design on it, just cut around the design. In this photo, I just cut two small hearts, leaving them connected by a small amount of the tissue paper.


• Place your cutout tissue paper on your candle where you want it.
• Wrap a piece of wax paper around the entire candle so you can hold it tight in the back or tape it together to hold it tight. You can have a little over hang at the top but try to make the bottom even with the candle so it will sit level on your jar lid or cup when elevating.

• Place your candle on the jar lid or cup if using.
• Begin heating the wax paper with your heat gun (or dryer) by holding it 2-3 inches away and waving back and forth or up and down fairly quickly. You don't want to hold it too close or in one place for very long or your candle wax will start dripping. If you are only doing a small piece of design, only heat the wax paper over those areas.

• You should start seeing the color from the tissue paper showing through the wax paper in a darker color. That means the tissue has adhered to the candle and it is coated in wax from the wax paper. Once you see this, make sure to quickly move on to any remaining areas of the design until the full color has come through all areas.
• Use your pedestal to spin your candle while heating if necessary, to get it evenly warmed.
• When you believe all of the areas you are working with are covered, you can carefully remove the wax paper. Tear it off slowly and if you notice a spot that was missed, flap it back on and heat a little more.
• Remove all waxed paper and your tissue design should be completely adhered and wax coated.

This only takes a few minutes to make and it really looks great!

If you or your kids are artistic, you could draw or write something on plain tissue paper and transfer your custom design with this same technique. Just be sure to cut away the excess tissue paper. It can be a little tricky to draw on tissue paper with markers because your lines can bleed to other areas of the paper. I've found using an older marker that isn't as wet as newer markers works pretty well on tissue paper.