Tealight holders are a great way to lighten the mood for any occasion. Although simple in style, they add so much charm to any setting that they are placed in and because of this; makes them the perfect decoration to have!
Why not get stuck in and have a go at creating these beautiful, contemporary and stylish candle votives?
How to Make Clay Tealight Holders
Skill Level: Beginners
Time to Make: 1 hour plus drying time
(Drying time can take up to 1 day. Make sure to allow the clay to dry properly before painting or doing anything else to it to prevent cracking)
You Will Need
Craft Essentials
- Rolling pin »
- Ruler
- Protective mat
- Paintbrushes »
- Paint palette »
- Scissors »
How to Make
1. Take out your bag of clay and cut off approx. 1/3 of the clay. Place onto your protective mat and roll out the clay using a rolling pin until it is evenly spread out and the thickness of the clay is roughly 0.5 cm. Cut off an excess that you think you don’t need.
Top Tip
If you are adding texture to your clay, do it as this point before you cut your clay because if you decide to do it the other way round, the clay will stretch and you will need to cut it again.The textured plastic sheet in this photograph is by Makin’s and comes in a pack of 4 (Set A).
2. Using a ruler and one of your clay modelling tools (one that is quite thin and sharp on the end) cut the clay into a long rectanglar piece with the height being approx. 5 cm and the length being approx. 19cm. Cut one side to an angle so that one of the lengths remains as 19 cm and the other becomes 17 cm.
3. To create the shape of your candle votive, use a cardboard tube.
Before you begin wrapping the clay around the tube, cut down one side of it. It is important to do this as it will help you to remove the tube once you have created the shape for your candle votive.
Your clay may slump a little when you remove the tube but don’t worry! It can easily be picked up and adjusted while the clay is still malleable.
Using a paintbrush and some water, you can also smooth out the surface or any rough edges on your candle votive.
Top Tip
Don't leave the cardboard tube inside of the wrapped clay! As clay dries it also shrinks a little, so if you leave the cardboard tube in place there will not be enough room for the clay to shrink. No room to shrink = clay cracking.
4. After an hour or so, the clay will begin to harden but it will still be soft enough for you to cut into. Using a scalpel, you can create a carved texture onto the surface and edges of your candle votive.
If children are making these, I do advise that adults do this part for them! Please do take care when doing this step.
5. And now for the best part… Painting!
Using golds, whites and pastel colours is so on trend at the moment. Using these colours will make these candle votives look so stylish and give them a contemporary look.
Once the paint has completely dried, use some Mod Podge glue (gloss) on the outside of the candle votive. This glue is great because although it is a glue, it is also a sealant so it will seal the paint in place, protect it and even give it a glossy finish.
All that is left to do now is pop a tea light into the bottom of your candle votives!
And what is so great about these candle votives is that they are bottomless! So if the wax melts and runs, you can just pop the tea light out of the bottom and put in a new one.
The post How to Make Clay Tealight Holders appeared first on Hobbycraft Blog.
from Hobbycraft Blog http://blog.hobbycraft.co.uk/how-to-make-clay-tealight-holders/
No comments:
Post a Comment