Tips on creative DIY lanterns and candles

THE cosy glow of a candle, giving off light and warmth, is perfect for when it’s cold and grey outside. You can also take a step further and decorate lanterns and candles to match your own style – giving your home a personal, creative touch.

Here are three ideas from the DIY Academy in Cologne, Germany:

Frosty lanterns

The idea: Spray empty jam jars with a special effect spray, for example a spray-on frost with an ice crystal or floral pattern. You can also look for a stencil in the right size – a star or a heart, for example.

Glue crepe streamers onto the stencil so that they overlap and cut everything out. Then carefully remove the crepe and stick it onto the glass. Remove it again after you’ve sprayed on the special effects. The light of the candle will shine through the frostfree area. Finally, you can also decorate the rim with a ribbon.

Tip: It’s best to decorate the outside of the jar, advises Mareike Hermann from the DIY Academy. It can be removed with warm water and some washing-up liquid.

Lantern with a wooden veneer

The idea: cover an empty jar with a wood veneer and decorate it with string and dried leaves. Before doing this, secure the veneer from behind with some adhesive tape and cut it to the size of the jar. Then secure the veneer to the jar with some double-sided tape and stick on the sheets with some spray adhesive.

Tip: When looking for a veneer, make sure it’s flexible and not too dry, so it doesn’t break, advises Hermann.

Photo candles

The idea: transfer photos onto a candle using wax paper. It’s important to print the photos on normal paper and cut the wax paper slightly larger than the images. Place the photo on the candle with the printed side facing outwards. Then place the waxed paper on the photo with the waxed side down.

Then transfer the picture – with a hairdryer on the hottest setting possible, but with medium air flow. Make sure you wear oven gloves. The hair dryer should melt the wax layer of the paper, but not the candle. When the wax has melted completely from the paper, simply remove the backing paper.

Tip: You can get quite close to the candle with the hair dryer, but don’t stay too long in one place, or else you’ll make holes in the candle, Hermann recommends. – dpa

— Photos: dpa Tea lights with wood veneer are undeniably pretty and also pretty easy to make.

It’s not difficult to personalise candles with your own photos.

It’s best to decorate only the outside of the jar.