Decorative Halloween Candle Cover {DIY Tutorial}

As of today, August 31st, 2011 there are TWO months until Halloween.

For most of us, this means we will wait 1.98 more months until we start thinking about Halloween décor. We end up going to Dollar Tree on October 27th only to find all the Halloween stuff is gone, and Valentine’s merchandise is in full swing. We convince ourselves if we squint hard enough Cupid does kinda look like Dracula. If he ate too much candy.

Kinda.

Ok, so maybe not Valentine’s day merchandise in October, but if it were Hobby Lobby I was talking about, that actually might be the case. Eek.

My brilliant plan this year is to not let the holidays sneak up on me. I am going to be proactive, not reactive. Hence why I was the crazy lady squee-ing over Halloween stuff at Dollar Tree while lovely citizens were still trying to finish their school supply shopping.

Poor souls.

My first Halloween/holiday project this year took me a total of 15 minutes and involves my handy dandy Silhouette SD. I absolutely LOVE my Silhouette SD, but if you’ve been here awhile, you know this by now. If you don’t have one, you can totally adapt this to use with a Cricut, Pazzle, etc. or even an X-acto knife if you’re brave. I’d end up in the ER trying something like that, but I am accident prone. Naturally.

We’re going to make a SPOOK-tacular Halloween vase/candle cover sleeve (seen above) using very few items that cost little-to-nothing. You may already have them on hand.

What You Need:

-Vase from Dollar Tree or a similar cylinder vase that’s 7-8 inches tall

-Sheet of 8.5x11 cardstock sheet (I used black)

-Some rhinestones/jewels (totally optional)

-Mini Glue Dots & Glue Dots roller (if you don’t have these on hand, double-sided tape will work)

-Votive candle (not a tealight)

Step 1 is to open up your Silhouette SD software. For this project I used a shape from the Silhouette SD store that was 99-cents. The file name is spider_in_web_C20091027204244_18816 (or it’s on the 2nd page if you search “spider” in the Silhouette SD store). For the text, I used Frankenstein which can be downloaded free over here.

I laid out my first spider…

Then I flipped it horizontally & vertically and added another one below it. In the center I simply typed out “spooky”. Send to my Silhouette SD to cut.

Voila! My design is now on my lovely cardstock, and I am ready to roll.

I got my vase and my rhinestones ready. The rhinestones are the self-adhesive ones from the Michael’s dollar-bins. I buy them all the time. They come in handy for random projects or to embellish cards, gifts, etc. Great buy for just a buck.

I wrap my cardstock around the vase and I secure the ends with my Glue Dots roller. Then you’ll notice some parts of the design don’t lay flat on your vase:

This is where the mini Glue Dots (seen below) will be a HUGE lifesaver!

Image Credit: Glue Dots

Once you get all the design to lay flat with your mini glue dots in place, feel free to embellish with rhinestones/etc. I used tiny blue dots for the spider eyes and orange circles to accent the O’s in “spooky”.

Plop in a votive candle (I found the tealight didn’t give sufficient/tall enough flame) and marvel at your awesome creation.

 

I love the spider web effect it had on my countertops/wall.

I plan on making more Halloween candle/vase sleeves. Perhaps mini-tombstones or vampires? They are a great way to make décor for mantles or even tablescapes & centerpieces. Best of all, when the holiday is over, you can simply remove the sleeve and reuse the vase for another time. Low cost, low commitment. Oh and remember to keep the spiders that are left over (from the cardstock being cut)- you can use them on cards or for another project.

Hope you enjoyed my quick, easy tutorial. Let me know if you have any questions or if you try out this tutorial, remember to link it up in the comments section. All props used in my photo shoot can be found at Dollar Tree. Happy crafting!