Whenever Candlelights Flicker....

 Recently I made this #8 tag for a tutorial for another project. But I didn't want it to go to waste, so I made a quick little Ideaology project just for fun.

 On the top part of the tag I added some Clippings stickers to tell a little story that went along a little with some of the opening narration in the Haunted Mansion - "When hinges creak in doorless chambers, and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls. Whenever candlelights flicker where the air is deathly still — that is the time when ghosts are present, practicing their terror with ghoulish delight!"

 I added a little bit of Grit Paste and Distress Crayons to the Crypt Cameos.

I had made a shelf from one of the new Halloween Bat/Wing Etcetera trims. I added one of the small Pinking trims to the top of it to make it a little wider so I could put things on the shelf.

 I added some spooky little bits and pieces such as bones, a thimble with moss and flowers, a bat, as well as a little candle I made.

 I also pulled some Ideaology Adornment Spiders that I had in my stash from previous years. I had three different styles from the past. The little bat I mounted on a tiny knob. I will explain this in a few weeks. I have a project that uses several things made much the same way and I will have an entire post dedicated to how to make them. So fun! Stay tuned for that one, you won't want to miss it.

 Last fall I made a large skull with a candle on it and I wanted some tiny ones on this shelf, so I had to come up with a way to do it. I formulated a way to make these much the same way as the one on the skull last year. So here is a quick tutorial.

 I started with cutting a piece of Distress Mixed Media Heavystock into some thin strips 1" .75" .5" by 5.5"

 Then I cut some tiny pieces of black crafter's thread for the candle wicks.

 I started by curling up the strip of paper very tightly and then gluing the piece of crafter's thread in the first curl so it will eventually be in the center of the candle like a wick. Continue rolling the paper tightly around itself, adding a little bit of Collage Medium as you go until they are completely rolled up into a cylinder shape.

You can see they are all the same thickness, but not the same height. The one on the right is thinner because I cut the strip down to 3.5". So that gives you an idea of how you can make your candles thicker or thinner by varying the width and length of the strips of Heavystock.

Now I wanted to make them look all melted. So I fired up the glue gun and got started. I put a drop of glue onto my nonstick mat.

 Then I placed one candle into the glue drop. Do this on the mat if you are just doing a candle you will add to to a project like the one on the left side of the shelf on my project. ** If you are putting them on the skulls, put the drop on the top of the skull instead of the nonstick mat, and put the candle into the glue on the skull.**

 The next steps are done exactly the same on either the mat or the skull.

 Put a ring of hot glue all around the top lip of the candle.

 It will look something like this. Don't worry if it is a little drippy or if there are those hot glue threads. We will deal with those later.

 Then add more hot glue starting at the top and pulling it down the side of the candle. You will want to do this several times, making them different lengths, just like the drips on the side of a real candle.

 You also will want to put some puddles around the bottom of the candle. When you do this on the skull, you will want to puddle it and then drip it down the side of the skull as well.

 Here you can see that I put a really big drip from the top all the way down to the puddle. This would also naturally run down the skull if the candle was on it, so keep that in mind.

You can see here how I made it run down the sides of the skulls.

 Once you have all the drips you want, carefully blow around the candle with a heat tool and it will melt and smooth out all the threads. Don't do this too closely or for very long or you will melt the hot glue and make a mess.

 Here you can see how the threads are gone and it looks smooth and melty. I love it!

 I painted the candles and drips with a very tiny, fine detail brush and Antique Linen Distress Paint.

 Let it dry and then make the melted wax look old and dusty. To do this I scribbled some Distress Crayon on my nonstick mat, sprayed a little water into it and then brushed it over the dry, painted candle.

 Here is what a grey color looks like, but you can add brown to make it look not just dusty but dirty too, like the one below.

 And they you have it, a melty candle to add to a mantle or a skull or two. So fun!

 Here is one that I made on the mat. You have to carefully paint the glue that runs down the skulls, but you can do it! And the Distress Crayons cover any little areas where you either missed painting it or went onto the skull a little.

I really had fun making this little tag. Varying the size of the projects you make is a delightful little challenge in and of itself, so I guess that is what intrigued me about using this much smaller version of Etcetera. I hope you will give these cute little drippy candles a try, I'm so glad I did!

Thank you so much to those who stopped by for a look and for those who took the time and effort to leave a comment. I read them all and greatly appreciate it even though I can't comment back.

If you have any questions, please use the comment option in the column at the right.
Tami

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