Design Happens

If there’s one thing my frequent estate/garage sale forays has taught me,  it’s that no one need ever pay full price for a candle. Ten bucks for a pillar candle? What?! I can’t remember the last time I shelled out more than $1 for one. The only downside to purchasing secondhand candles is that they’re often dented, scratched or are a color that won’t work with your decor. No worries, a little hot glue and twine will cover up a world of sins.

I recently picked up some bargain candles at an estate sale in Knoxville before heading down to my sister’s work-in-progress beach house. I had some jute twine and furniture webbing left over from other projects so I decided to give these 3 thrifted candles a quick beachy makeover — et voila:  

Pretty, huh? I paid $2 for the 3 candles and, as I said, all the other materials I already had on hand — but, if I had to buy them, this would be a $10-$15 project.  They fit right in with our other beachy bargains:

I know people will ask about fire safety for obvious reasons — twine and upholstery webbing are flammable. First, as with any candle, you shouldn’t leave it burning without supervision — but — I’ve done variations of this project (covering pillar candles in paper, ribbon, bark and even paint) many times and never had a problem. The key is to choose a pillar candle wide enough that the wick burns down the center leaving a wax shell. Don’t try this technique on a narrow pillar or taper candle.

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