Festive DIY Painted Candles

Welcome to SSJ Advent 2023!!

The fun has officially begun! While ecumenical Advent may not officially begin until Sunday, December 3rd, SSJ Advent starts right now! As you may recall, I often run a “theme” day for each day of the week in advent. And this year, SSJ Advent Fridays will be officially identified as “Friday Crafternoons.”

On this first Friday of December, we’re going to try our hands at painting festive candles for gifts and to decorate our table. That’s right, we are going to paint tiny designs onto candles.

Since I wanted our candles to be luxe, I’ve opted for some gorgeous 12-inch beeswax taper candles from a booth at the St. Lawrence Market Saturday Farmer’s Market and from Bluecorn Beeswax online. But you can simply choose any taper you have on hand [wax or non-nubbly beeswax]. I would recommend looking for a cotton or wooden wick as opposed to anything which may spark while burning. Of course, one should never leave a burning candle unattended.

Since I wanted this project to be easy, I’ve opted to use acrylic paint pens rather than acrylic paints and tiny brushes. [And, yes, you’ll want to use acrylic paint for this project, as it’s water-based.] I found a set in an array of metallics with double-sided brush and fine tips online.

As for designs, we’re trying various bits of holiday greenery, holiday skies, holiday lights, and holiday sayings. With a little bit of measuring, we might even create an Advent Candle, writing the numbers 1-25 in a line down the front.

Before we get started, we’ll lay down some old newsprint or a drop cloth on our worktable. [The good thing about the candles we purchased is that the craft paper they came wrapped in is perfect for protecting our table while making a great testing ground for our little designs!] We’ll then wipe each candle clean with an alcohol swab or lysol wipe to remove dust and debris. Then, we’ll begin painting the candle from the top down so that we don’t smudge our work. Note, it’s a good idea to schedule in a break here and there: we’ll want to be able to rest our candles and let them dry for a few minutes facing up before painting the reverse side.