DIY Stained Glass Candleholder

For the last few months, I’ve been looking for glass candleholders. Of course, they’re not hard to find, glass candleholders abound just about everywhere you look, but I was looking for a certain type. They had to be round, not too tall but not too short, preferably with a fluted tops and some type of footing, in blue or green, and hold look of antiquity.

I looked and I looked. I searched and I searched. There wasn’t an antique shop or flee market, or store in a 50 mile radius that I left unsearched—I even scoured the internet for something to please my fancy and still I came up empty handed (okay, not quite so empty handed, I did purchase some really neat items along the way, but none of them was the candleholders which I had been searching for).

Once I realized I wasn’t going to find what I wanted, I decided to make my own.

 

Glass Vase/Jar, Elmer’s School Glue, green and blue liquid food coloring, gold puff paint, paper plate, rubbing alcohol, water

Optional Supplies: Metallic permanent marker in gold (I have found that the Sharpie brand works the best on glass surfaces)

 

You’ll want to cover your work surface with something to protect it. I use a vinyl tablecloth. If you will need to move your project before it’s dried, you’ll need something for the candleholders to sit in. I use an oversized plastic mixing bowl, but an old shoebox would work— just cover the bottom with newspaper.

Wash glass thoroughly in warm soapy water. Allow the glass to dry. Soak a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol and run over the inside of the jar to remove oil and residue. If the glass is too small, pour a small amount of rubbing alcohol (about two capfuls) inside the glass, cover the top, and gently shake. Allow to dry.

If you are upcycling an old jar that has the label attached, allow the jar to soak for an hour or two to remove the glue from the jar—if you find that the glue is being stubborn, use a SMALL amount of vegetable or olive oil on a cotton ball to rub over the glue, just make sure you rewash the jar to remove the oil, then follow the steps above.

 

  Either in the bottom of your vase or in a separate cup, add two tablespoons of glue and 1-2 tablespoons of warm water, mix together until the water has absorbed into the glue. Now add 2-3 drops of blue food coloring, blend well, then add 1 drop of green and mix. Don’t be afraid to play around with the colors or the amount that you use.

When mixing colors together remember 3 different colors is your limit. If you mix any more than three separate colors, the outcome tends to be murky.

  

If you mixed your paint in a separate cup, pour the paint into your vase. Turn the vase until the inside is completely coated, then sit the vase upside down on a paper plate to dry.

   

Once the paint has dried, it’s now time to add your designs. If this is your first time, you might want to use a metallic Sharpie to draw on the designs that you want. Having used the puff paint before, I was acquainted with the way the tube and tip worked so I free-handed the designs I wanted. For the gilded-looking top and footer, I squeezed on enough paint to coat the top and bottom then worked the tip of the paint tube until I achieved the design I wanted. Allow to dry to dry for 24 hours.

Voilà! Now you have a decorative vase that will be perfect for both keeping and giving as a gift.

(just remember, the paint is not waterpoof. If you wanted to use these to hold flowers, I suggest that you take a gallon sized ziplock baggy, cut off about two inches down from the top of the baggy to remove the ziplock, place baggy inside the vase, secure the baggy by folding the edges down over the top of the vase and placing on a rubber band, then add water.)

If you make one of these stained glass candleholders, I would love to know how it turned out.

Happy Crafting!