These doggy candles are easy to make and only require a few affordable materials. They’re a great way to add some puppy love to your household items or Halloween decorations, but these candles can also make great gifts for your friends and family. You can even have your kids help out; just make sure an adult handles the final steps with the hairdryer.
You don’t have to be artistic to create a candle design that looks just like your dog. Choose from over 400 breed cartoons to find artwork of your pooch.
What You’ll Need
- Plain, light-colored pillar candles (the wider, the better)
- Acrylic paint and paintbrushes and/or markers
- Your choice of Dog Breed Cartoon artwork
- Scissors
- A piece of cardboard or other material to protect your table from staining
- Waxed paper
- Tissue paper (the kind used to stuff gift bags)
- A hair dryer
Step #1 – Place artwork between tissue paper and table protector.
Print out your artwork from Dog Breed Cartoon, using your printer preview settings to shrink the image to fit the candle. Your dog should be slightly shorter than the candle.
Cut out a piece of tissue paper slightly shorter than the candle and not as wide as the circumference. You will not want the tissue paper to cover the candle or overhang on the edges.
Place the dog cartoon on a protective surface, like a piece of cardboard, to keep ink and paint from staining your table. Place the tissue paper over the cartoon.
Step #2 – Paint or draw on the tissue paper.
Using a thin paintbrush or marker, trace the outline of your dog cartoon.
Use colored markers or paint to fill in your dog’s markings.
You can also add lettering, shapes, a background, any details your heart desires.
Do not dilute paint with water. Tissue paper is very delicate and will not hold up to heavy application of pigment.
Allow paint and markers to dry.
Step #3 – Wrap tissue paper around candle.
Position your finished tissue paper design on your candle, taking care to center the image.
Wrap the candle with waxed paper. The waxed paper can be larger than the candle, with enough extra to create a handle by which you can hold it together.
Step #4 – Apply heat.
Using a hairdryer, heat up the entire design through the waxed paper. Watch carefully, you’ll be able to see the wax melting and soaking into the tissue paper. The tissue paper will disappear into the candle and make your design appear more vibrant. Distribute heat evenly over the candle to avoid allowing any particular side to melt too much and become misshapen.
Once your entire image has been melted onto the candle, use a finger to smooth away any bumps or bubbles.
Allow candle to cool for at least 25 seconds. Remove the waxed paper.
Your design should now be a part of the candle. If the edges are easy to lift away, put the waxed paper back on and apply heat to areas that have not yet been secured.
Allow your design to completely cool. Then, your candle is ready to display and light, or give as a gift.
To find more dog illustrated items you can gift someone or decorate your home with, visit our shop.
