Red & White

I'm playing in paint again. This time it's red puff paint. I saw the idea for this project at Posie Gets Cozy, and I knew I just had to try my hand at it too. I tried to paint freehand on some smaller votive candles, but I realized quite quickly that I was going to have more mess than art so I abandoned that idea and found some Transylvanian embroidery patterns that I printed off on my computer and then traced with pencil onto ($2.99) white pillar candles. It was much, much easier to paint with a line to follow. At first I tried to paint with the paint tube itself, but that was not so easy -- for me at least. So I squirted a glob of paint onto a sour cream lid and used a small, stiff brush to paint with. I put on a first coat that was rather thin, let it dry several hours and then painted over it thickly a second time to get an embossed look on the candle. I also found that creating little dots (blobs) on the candle was an effective, attractive idea that didn't take a lot of talent. All in all, I'm pretty pleased although I know that someone with a steadier hand and more artsy-ness could do a finer job.

However, these Red & White Candles will suit our purposes at home --

candles for burning during Dark December. Doesn't a candle just

add the perfect warm glow in the evening? Actually, we tend to burn candles all throughout the day in winter months. As you can see, one of the candles has been burned (enjoyed) already.