Make Votive Candle Holders

For today’s advent activity, make some votive candle holders. You can use these to decorate your advent table. Or give them away to a relative or friend.

These votive candle holders are easy enough to make that all of the members of your family can help, no matter what their age. Using colored tissue paper creates a pretty “stained glass” effect.

Light your votive candles and say a prayer for a loved one.

How to Make Stained Glass Votive Candle Holders

Materials

• large baby food jars or other small jars
• tissue paper cut into 1 inch squares
• school glue
• bowl
• water
• brush
• votive candles

Instructions 

1. Put some of the glue in the bowl and dilute it with just enough water that it can be “painted” with the brush.
2. Brush some of the glue on the outside of the jar. It is easier to work in sections than to try to do the whole jar at once.
3. Layer the tissue paper onto the glue. You can use a pattern or just put them on randomly. Either way it will look nice. Overlap the tissue paper a little, but don’t put on two many layers of paper. You want it to be translucent so the light shines through.
4. Continue adding glue and tissue paper until the whole outside of the jar is covered in paper.
5. Add a coat of glue over the paper. The colors will blend and bleed a little. The heavier the coat of glue, the more they will blend.
6. After that coat dries, add another coat. (You can add up to five coats total, depending how shiny you want it.)
7. Let it dry completely.
8. Put a votive candle inside and light it.
9. Enjoy the colorful flickers of light!

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