Christmas Candles

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas... and it's not even Thanksgiving! I don't think I'm going to be able to wait to decorate until after Thanksgiving.  I had to sneak in a little Christmas project and the dollarstorecrafts.com 's Christmas Decor Challenge sponsored by DollarTree was the perfect excuse!

I was wandering the isle of my DollarTree when I came upon a new item. I snatched up 3 right away.  Faux wax LED Candles! They are plastic dipped in wax so they really feel/look like candles, except lighter.  Do you recognize them from my previous post on my new mantel?

I made them new collars in anticipation of my Christmas mantel. Here's what I did.

Materials:
3 Faux wax LED candles ($1 each)
1 bag mints ($1)
2 sheets cardstock (red, white; on hand)
tissue paper ($1, on hand)
hot glue

I cut a strip of cardstock and glued it so it fit loosely around the candle--I wanted to be able to remove it. For the first candle, I hot glued mints around that cardstock collar in 3 rows.

For the second candle I cut strips of tissue paper sheets (about 2.5 inches wide), twisted them, and glued them around another cardstock collar.

For the third one, I used a glue stick to glue printed tissue paper around yet another cardstock collar. You could also use Christmas wrapping paper.  (Missed the picture, but you can see it below)

That's it... super easy, huh?

Then, do you know what I discovered? By setting the candles on a small objects of varying heights (I used a small playdough container and a cooking spray lid) and sliding the cardstock collars down, you create the illusion that your candles are different heights!

There are so many ways you could decorate the cardstock collars to change out your candles for the different seasons and occasions. Like these ones on my Thanskgiving mantel.

Happy Crafting!
*Linking up to DollarStoreCrafts.com Holiday Decoration Challenge

I Hate My Mantel...Remake

Yeah. It's looked about like this since we moved in. I keep finding things that I might want to put there, so there they sit. Maybe this...how about that...this is cute...what about this here... ugh! I couldn't commit to anything. And nothing was coming together.

So it all came down!

I decided that I might have a commitment issue. I'm going to try switching out my decor for the seasons... then I only have to commit to 3 months (or less!). I don't want to break the bank, nor do I want to create a storage issue.  My goal is to have easy to store and/or versatile decor.

Here's what I came up with, and I only spent $4.50, with most of it coming from things I had around the house.

My friend gave me these cute indian corn cobs-- they are actually popcorn, and yes, I saved some to try and pop!  I took some cardstock to make a collar around these Dollar Tree candles.  A little hot glued and these faux wax LED candles look perfect. Best of all I can slip them out and make new collars for all the seasons. 

I saved the husks and glued them aroung a cardboard circle. My small pine tree was kind enough to lend me some pinecones for the middle of the flower.  I cut some colorful branches for the vase and tossed in some pumpkins to finish off the look. 

No time to create the fabulous large wood plaque I envisioned, so I covered my large picture frame with kraft paper and painted a thankful message.

I'm excited about how it turned out. Even more excited that I'm only committed to it for a few more weeks. You'll have to stay tuned for my Christmas mantel!  Christmas goes up the day after Thanksgiving at my house... how about at yours?