So You See...We Are A Happy Family!: How to decorate a candle jar

At my local grocery store, I found lots of prayer candles on sale. These are tall, sturdy glass jars with unscented white wax poured into them. I decided that, with a little decorations, these would make some excellent gifts.

Decorated Candle Jar

You need:
a candle in a clean glass jar
metallic or decorative colored tissue paper
several yards of 5/8" ribbon
white glue
aluminum pie tin
small paint sponge
scissors
tape measure
ruler
pencil
hot glue gun

Using the tape measure, measure the candle around the area you want to decorate. First measure the circumference, then the height of the candle. Lay out the tissue paper and, using the ruler, draw a rectangle with the measurements of the candle. The circumference will be used as the width of the rectangle. Cut out the rectangle and wrap it around the candle to make sure it completely covers the glass.

Pour 2-3 tablespoons of white glue into the pie tin, then add the same amount of water to the glue. Using the paint sponge, mix the glue and water together. Paint a thin layer of diluted glue onto the glass. Glue the edge of the tissue paper vertically onto the glass, making sure it is straight up and down. Carefully wrap the paper around the glass, gently smoothing the paper as you go. The tissue paper will wrinkle some, but as it dries, most of the wrinkles will go away. The remaining wrinkles will give it a gentle texture. If the paper overlaps some, paint some glue on the underside of the overlapping edge, and smooth it down. Gently rub the paper to get out any air bubbles and flatten the wrinkles down.

When the paper is completely dry, measure two lengths of ribbon to wrap around the glass. Use a small drop of hot glue to secure one end of the ribbon at the top, wrap the ribbon around the glass, then glue the overlapping end down with another small drop of hot glue. Glue the second ribbon around the other end of the glass the same way.