Make some beautiful candle holders cheaply and easily
I have a lot of glassware cluttering up my craft room. So, I’m going to show you how you can make a few different versions of candle holders or hurricane lamps, easily and cheaply using dollar store supplies and thrift store finds.
Dollar Store
The first part of the equation comes from the dollar store. Doesn’t matter which one, Dollar Tree, Dollarama, Dollar King etc etc. You get the picture. The cylinder vase is so great for so many different craft projects. The ones that I used in this post are 5.5″ high. These vases come in a good range of sizes.
There are lots of other options as well, Go and scope out what variety is on the shelves of your local dollar store. And if you have never been to the dollar store. Wait, what?! Are you kidding me,? Go go go!!
Thrift Store
The next time you are in a thrift shop check out the selection of wine and aperitif glasses. You know all of those little old school sherry glasses. There are so many of these its crazy!! Go to a few different stores, and find some really unique pieces to use with your vases. Also scout out the candle holders that are made for the thin tapered candles these are perfect for using as a base for your larger candle holders.
Also, you will find a great selection of vases at thrift stores. I don’t know about you but I have spent a good amount of time scouting out my local thrift shops, 2nd hand and consignment stores. After a while you will know which one have the best selection of specific types of items.
Another good tip for you if you are looking for pretty glassware, go to a location with a lot of seniors. Seriously. I live in a location that has a very high retiree rate, and there is a LOT of really beautiful glassware (and furniture, which is my passion) here. So if you are looking for pretty sherry glasses, go to your local retirement community, and scout out the nearest thrift shop.
Glass Shopping
One thing you will want to do when you are shopping for glasses to use as bases for your candle holders is to keep in mind how many candles holders you are planning to make. If you are wanting to do a 3 piece set, don’t pick a style that only has one unique base. Here are some types of glasses that work really well:
Small aperitif or wine glasses
Glasses with a very flared rim
Tall skinny shot glasses
Odd shaped Candle holders
Preparation
One thing you want to do before attaching any of these glass pieces together is to clean them really well. Especially the inside of the glass or candle holder that is acting as the base. Since you will not be able to clean any smudges out once it is glued in place.
This is so easy, it’s silly! It really just consists of choosing a piece. for your base, and a piece for your top and then glueing them together. Go and check out my youtube video, where I chat about shopping for glassware and pairing up pieces.
I did up two versions of candle holders in the video. Here is the first one. I call it:
The Classic
So this one is pretty simple. Clean and classic.
Here are the bases and the vases that I chose to put together for this version. The dollar store vase that I used is just a plain unembellished cylinder vase 5.5″ tall. The bases are these beautiful glasses. I think I paid $2.99 each for them. They are pretty all on their own, but they’ll be even better once I add the top section to them.
I originally thought these were sherry glasses, but I’m pretty certain that they are candle holders, made for the tapered style of candles. They weigh a lot, but are so delicate and pretty.
To connect them use glue suitable for glass, that is permanent. When I did the first one I used Quick Grip glue, but when I later cleaned the piece the glue let go, so I would not recommend using that brand of glue. When I re-glued It the second time I went with Marine Silicone Sealant
which is made to hold aquarium glass together, so it won’t let go if it gets wet. At the time of this post I did not have E6000
, which I just ordered. Based on reviews that I have heard, this is probably the glue you should use for this project.
Construction
The best way to do this is to turn the vase upside down, so the bottom is face up. next apply a line of glue around the rim of the base piece. Then place on top of the vase, so that the whole piece is sitting upside down . Take a minute to ensure it’s properly centered, and then then just let it dry. THAT’s IT!!!!! How easy is that? I know that’s crazy easy isn’t it? The hardest part of that whole project is really finding a pretty piece to use as your base. But as I said earlier, it’s actually not that difficult. Go shopping!
All that’s left is filling it up with a candle and setting it someplace pretty.
Onto the next one, which we will call…
The Fish Bowl
These bowl shaped vases are also from the dollar store. For the bottoms I tried out a few different glasses, but in the end I chose a tall thin stemmed glass, which I purchased at my local thrift store for $0.75 each. I like the way the the long thin stem juxtaposes the oversized bowl shaped vase. The construction portion is the same as with the previous version. Flip the bowl upside down and apply your glue to the rim of the glass, then center and let dry. I know, I know, too easy 😉 But really, has anyone ever said a craft is too easy??
Embellish
For this version I added a bit of embellishment. All of these are easily available at the dollar store. Also Walmart has a decent selection of stick on rhinestones and beads as well. Here is a link to a Butterfly Rhinestone Sticker in case you can’t find these.
These stickers are just peel and stick so are super easy to use. I just centered them by eye. If you do a really bad job of applying them you can peel them off and redo. But after time (days not minutes) it gets more difficult to remove them. The butterfly stickers that I purchased came with matching strips. 
I strung a few strips together on the very top edge. I found it easiest to keep them straight by applying them to the very top edge. 
Then to finish it off, I added another similar sticker right where the glass and the bowl connect.
This also helps to cover up any glue that may be showing here. And that’s it. Then all you need to do is decide what to fill them up with. I have done them up a couple of different ways to give you some ideas.
You can use them with coloured candles
And because they are such large bowls, they work very well for floating candles. I filled these ones up with water and then just added a few drops of food colouring and dropped in 2 floating candles
. So pretty, and so easy to change the colour up for whatever the occasion demands.
And here it is done up for the dinner table. 
Was this easy, Yes it was! So the moral of this story is that it isn’t hard at all to make beautiful candle holders. The vases for this are at the dollar store. Then make a trip to a thrift store or two, to find the perfect bases. The cool part about finding your bases at the thrift store, you will have a totally unique piece. And if you want to do multiples, make sure that you grab enough to make as many candle holders as you need for your occasion. Then make sure to show me all of your gorgeous candle holders.
Note: This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. You NEVER pay more. I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through one of my links. Click here for my full disclosure. Thanks for helping pay the blog bills. 🙂
Leave a Reply