Happy Christmas Eve! I’ve got a cool handmade gift idea to share. I’ve seen some really pretty wire crafts making their way around the interwebs and I love how wire can be incorporated into just about any project. I decided to make some holiday candles with my Wick Candle Maker, and throw some Happy Jig wire at them to see what happened.
The combination of handmade candles and wire designs make for a unique gift set. I started by making some candles with my Wick Candle Maker and the new Silicone Molds. I added some delicious holiday scents, and went with traditional red and green colors for the candles.
Important tips: 1) remind your recipient to remove the paper gift tag before lighting the candles; 2) The Happy Jig Wire is not flammable but it does get hot near a flame, so use caution.
Once I finished the candles, I selected some holiday designs from the Happy Jig Instagram account (@werhappyjig) and used the free templates available there. I first chose the star design for my green diamond shaped candle, and I altered it slightly to look more like a holiday star. Here’s the template I ended up using.
I left a lot of excess wire so I could wrap it around the candle. I used a household object in a cone shape (funnel) to wrap the wire around so I didn’t scratch and scuff up the candle in the process.
When I finished wrapping, I cut off the extra and gently slipped the formed wire spiral over the candle.
Next, I selected the reindeer head design for my red sphere candle. I made the reindeer head exactly as it is found on the @werhappyjig Instagram account, except I started and finished my wire down at the bottom of the design. Here’s the template I used:
Once I finished the reindeer head I wrapped the extra wire around a tennis ball (since it’s the same size as the sphere shaped candle) and trimmed it. Then I slipped it gently over my candle.
To finish off my candles, I added some gift tags that I cut out from the some holiday patterned paper.
I used my Sticky Piercer to make a small hole in each tag, and then tied them onto the wire around the candles with some American Crafts Twine.
During the holidays this year handmade gifts are a great way to go since we can’t gather physically. Your time and effort will speak volumes. Thanks for stopping by, and have a very Merry Christmas!
