How to Make Birthday Candles

Without visiting a huge party supply store your choices are rather limited when it comes to purchasing ordinary stick candles for a birthday cake. The tiny pillar candles are sold in boxes of several but are usually only available in a few colors. Those kinds of candles had their day but have become somewhat boring over the years. This year, you can easily make birthday candles in neon colors, elegant gold or a variety of other choices instead of using the same old stick candles or spending too much at a specialty store.

Even if youve never made candles, and you dont want to deal with melting wax and pouring molds, you can still make beautiful birthday candles without any of the hassle or mess. If you have tried your hand at making candles, but youve never made stick candles, you have a choice of melting your own wax or going a different route. Any time you melt and color your own wax you save money over alternative methods of making candles. However, non-crafters will find it much easier to choose an alternative method.

Most any craft store carries a variety of beeswax sheets which make creating candles a breeze. Usually sold by the sheet the wax is just a flat, thin piece which is very pliable. Available in many different colors the beeswax is simply cut and wrapped around the wick. You cant get any easier than that! Cut the wicks to the size you want them to be then cut the wax. Each piece of wax you cut should be a hair shorter than the wick itself and wide enough to wrap once around the wick. Position the wick on the wax and roll it until the two ends of the wax meet. Press together and the candle is finished! If you enjoy crafting you might choose to go the longer route towards making stick candles. You can make fake beeswax sheets yourself then use them for all sorts of candle projects. Use a piece of bubble wrap to accomplish this. The piece you cut should have the small bubbles and should be slightly longer and wider than a cookie sheet. Lay the bubble wrap on the cookie sheet with the bubbles facing upward. Melt ordinary paraffin in a glass measuring cup in the microwave. Color it how you will with candle tints from a craft store or old crayons from your childs toy box. After coloring the wax pour it over the bubble wrap. After the wax cools enough so that you can handle it, but is still slightly warm, remove it from the cookie sheet and peel away the bubble wrap. Your fake beeswax sheet is finished! Use some of it to make the birthday candles then use the rest to create other candles. Simply roll pieces of wax around the wicks to make any pillar candle. Wrap just a couple of pieces and make a tall, slender candle or wrap another and another piece until you have a chunky pillar candle. To make striped candles cut pieces of the wax sheet from different colors. Lay one piece on the table, then lay another color beside it, and another color beside it. Make sure each strip is touching the previous one and that they are butted together. Position the wick and wrap. If youll be making a thick candle its not necessary to do this each time. If you want, you can wrap the candle again and again in the same color, then use the different colors only for the outside layer of the candle. Its really easy to make birthday candles if you purchase the beeswax sheets, but if you make your own, youll have a lot of fun and end up with great candles as well. Everyone will notice the wildly colored candles youve created and theyll all want to know where you got them. But, youre not giving away any secrets, right?

How to Make an Angel Ornament from a Bell

If you love making your own unique Christmas tree ornaments youll thoroughly enjoy creating a beautiful little angel ornament from a bell. Youll find bells, in various sizes and colors, at craft stores and some discount department stores. Although you can make the angel from any size bell youll be happiest with the outcome if you choose a larger bell.

You can purchase bells in a number of colors, and paint them to the color you want, but its best if you start out with a bell that is white, gold or silver. This will keep you from having to paint the bell in order to complete the craft.

The bell will be the angels body and youll need a wooden ball bead to make the head. The wooden beads are sold in a pack of several but youll only need one. Purchase several bells and several ball beads and youll have a collection of angel ornaments for your tree. The ball bead you choose should be slightly smaller than the bell itself. Glue the wooden ball to the side of the bell that has the slits. Hot glue works great for this project. Now that you have the head attached to the body youll proceed to embellishing the angel. You can use wiggly eyes - or craft eyes - to make the angels face or you can just use a marker. Make the eyes with a black felt-tip marker and the mouth with a red one. It isnt necessary to draw on a nose. You have other choices for creating the face including a sticker face found at a craft store. Your angel can have hair if you wish. Purchase a small bag of yellow craft hair and glue a few strands to the top of the wooden ball. Your angel doesnt necessarily have to have hair, though. Thats up to you. You can make the angel ornament as simplistic or as extravagant as you want. Form a small halo from a piece of gold pipe cleaner. Fold a piece of stretch cord in half and glue it to the angel head. Glue the halo to the hair or to the bare bead with the back part of the halo covering the stretch cord ends. Other choices for making the halo include purchasing a tiny golden band (in the wedding supplies aisle at a craft store), or even folding a piece of silver foil into a ring. Tie a piece of ribbon around the "neck" of the angel. Where the wooden ball meets the bell, you can either tie a piece of ribbon around the neck, or just glue on a small gold, silver or white bow. Embellish the bow with glitter paints, a fake jewel or other craft supplies. There are many different ways to make the wings of the angel. Use wide ribbon to tie a bow and glue the bow on the back of the angel to serve as the wings. Or, create wings from pipe cleaners and organza fabric. Shape the wings the way you want, using white, gold or silver pipe cleaners, then cut organza pieces to glue on the wings. Twist and fold the pipe cleaners into a large "B" shape for each wing. In the openings of the "B" glue organza or lace pieces. Glue the "Bs" together, in the center, on the back of the angel. If you dont want to make the wings yourself craft stores sell all sorts of angel wings you can use. The little angels dont necessarily have to be made into ornaments for the Christmas tree. Use a longer cord and hang them on door knobs or even a rearview mirror. You can even hang the angels on the tie-backs of your curtains or drapes. Let the kids help make the angel ornaments and theyll have an afternoon of fun and creativity. The angel ornaments are so beautiful that theyll become cherished treasures to use for future holidays. The angels are inexpensive to make, easy to create, and will brighten any area where they are hung.

Spool and Clay Pot Skeleton

Make any number of sitting skeletons for Halloween decorating when you use cheap craft items such as wooden beads, clay pots and empty thread spools. Make a whimsical skeleton or a scary one; make the skeleton large or small. No matter the size or type of the skeleton it takes just a few minutes to assemble it.

Since you have a choice of how large you want to make the skeleton you will be the one to decide on the size of the spools, beads and clay pots. Just choose ones that are proportionate to each other. And, you cant use large pots and things. You can use really tiny on up to small pots, beads and spools. Start with two small clay pots and glue them to each other. Set the first pot upside-down on a flat surface. Set the other pot on top of the first one and glue them together. The bottoms of the pots should be glued together. Paint the pots white and allow to dry. This completes the body of the skeleton.

Paint a large wooden bead white and let it dry. Then, paint a simple face on it with a marker or black paint. Set it aside for now. Use a white pipe cleaners to make the arms. First slide on a wooden bead, a little smaller than the head, and glue it to the end of the pipe cleaner. Slide on a spool then a slightly smaller bead. The first bead makes one of the skeletons hands and the second bead makes the elbow of that arm. Slide on two spools to finish that arm. All the spools you use should be the same size. Make the same pattern of beads and spools at the opposite end to form both arms on the same pipe cleaner. There should be a section of the pipe cleaner showing between the two arms. Position the bare part of the pipe cleaner over the top clay pot and push it down into the pot slightly. Glue in place on the edges of the pot. Now glue on the head bead so that it sits on top of the pipe cleaner. If you want, glue on a tiny top hat. To make the legs, slide one painted bead onto the end of the pipe cleaner and glue it in place. This bead should be the same size as the ones you used for the hands. Now slide on two spools (the same size as the arm spools), and another bead. This bead makes the knee and should be the same size as the elbow bead. Now slide on two more spools. Do the same pattern again to make both legs on the same pipe cleaner. Bend the bare part of the pipe cleaner nearly in half to form a point. Glue the point to the inside part of the bottom clay pot. Temporarily set the skeleton down on the edge of a flat surface so that his legs are bent at the knees and his feet touch a surface lower than where he is sitting. For example, set him on a small cardboard box with his feet resting on a table. Make a cane for the skeleton by cutting a small-diameter wooden dowel. The cane not only dresses up the skeleton decoration but also keeps his arms and legs from just dangling. Paint the stick or use it as-is. Glue it across the skeletons lap on the spools just above the knee joints. Glue a painted wooden bead to the end of the stick. Now glue the skeletons hands to the walking stick so that one hand is just below the wooden bead and hand is near the opposite end of the stick. Bend the elbows outwards before gluing the hands in place. Paint one black line down the center of the top clay pot, starting just below the wide rim of the pot. This forms the breastbone. Now draw simple lines going from the breastbone to the sides of the pot to make the ribs. Make a tiny bow tie from fabric or felt and glue it in place. This skeleton can sit in any number of places around the house until Halloween is over.

Milk Jug Decorations for Halloween

I love decorating for the holidays, but for me, the real fun is being able to take ordinary items and turn them into fabulous holiday decor. Its no different for Halloween. Its so enjoyable to save money but have fabulous Halloween decor that neighbors really notice. The true reward for my time and trouble is having people ask me where I got my unique decorations.

Look no further than your refrigerator shelf for your Halloween decor this year. Empty that milk jug and get busy! Youll be making glowing indoor and outdoor decorations, that will turn heads, in no time. Best of all, you dont have to drag out knives and other implements to create the spooky decor.

There are different types of milk jugs, depending upon which company is making the container. Milk jugs which are white are not ideal for this project. Instead, use the ones that are clear. The clear ones, minus their labels, are the best for making spooky Halloween decor. Fill the empty milk jug with water and place it in a sink of water to remove the label. Soapy water will usually allow the label to peel right off. If you have trouble removing the label there are products sold which will melt away the adhesive and make it easier to remove. Usually soap and water will do the trick, though. Since this project is so cheap you may want to invest in a few craft items that will make it even more spectacular. At most craft stores youll find stickers to make spooky faces, like ghosts, witches or jack-o-lanterns. These stickers make it even easier for kids to create glowing Halloween decorations. Peel and stick the face stickers to the front of an ordinary milk jug. Add a strand of lights inside the clean and dry jug. The lights must be the type that run on batteries. Youll find the strands of lights at dollar theme stores and discount department stores. Set the glowing milk jug on a table, stairs, beside walkways, and other areas of the home - inside or out. The project is simple but striking. Make many and light up the whole yard. Make a few to light the house during the Halloween party. You dont necessarily have to purchase stickers to make the glowing Halloween characters. Use markers to create the same effect. Draw a jack-o-lantern face, place orange lights inside, and set anywhere. Or, create a witchs face, add green lights, and watch the ordinary become utterly eerie. If you want to, you can add shredded foil to the inside of the jug. The foil causes the light to bounce around and gives the jug an extra glow. You can weight the jugs down with other things that will catch the light, such as marbles or craft glass pieces. If you dont have anything like that you can always weight it down with sand or beans. Its important to add weight to the jug if youre using it as an outside decoration since the wind can easily knock it over without weights. Even indoors the jugs can be easily knocked over so its a good idea to weight them no matter where theyll eventually sit. You can add other things to the milk jug to make it even more appropriate for Halloween. For example, create a green stalk for the jack-o-lantern character by using fun foam for crafting. The foam is cheap and easy enough to shape into whatever you need. Use black fun foam to make a witchs hat or a top hat for a skeleton or ghost character. The milk jug projects are cute and glowing. Theyre inexpensive and easy, too. You and your entire family will have lots of fun making the jug characters for Halloween, and since the craft is so simple, youll finish the project in no time!