Easy & Inexpensive Candle Props

If you don’t know this about me already, I love Halloween. It’s my favorite holiday. I am also a cheapskate somewhat frugal and I love to DIY. So when I found out you could make a ton of really awesome Halloween props and decorations for little money I made it my mission to start building a menagerie of faBOOlous things. (Don’t tell my ‘let’s-not-have-projects-spread-out-all-over-the-house’ husband!)

First up – PVC candles. Regrettably I did not take step-by-step photos as I wasn’t planning on doing a tutorial. There are lots of tutorials online and I sort of combined methods from a couple different ones. If you would like me to make one just let me know, I plan to make more of these candles!

Here are the basics.

MATERIALS & TOOLS:

2″ PVC Pipe  – I bought a 5′ section ($4.18)
Pipe Insulation – I bought a bag and later discovered I did not need nearly that much! ($3.89) – If you get a different size of PVC Pipe you may have to get a different size of insulation. You want the insulation to fit snugly inside the PVC pipe.
Glue Gun &  Glue Sticks, LOTS of Glue Sticks ($6.97 for 50 sticks at Wal-Mart)
Rustoleum Specialty Plastic Primer Spray – I used white ($3.99)
Basic Acrylic Paints (About $1.00 a bottle) – I used a black, brown, white, and a tan color
Saw – I used a chop saw, which is probably the easiest although you could use a hacksaw
Sharp Kitchen Knife
Flickering LED tealight – (About $1 each at the Dollar Store. I got mine on Amazon)
Foam Brush
Small Paint Brush
Paper Towels or Rag
Water
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser ($3.47 for pack of 4)
Nail Polish Remover ($1.00 at Wal-Mart?)

BASIC INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cut the PVC pipe to the size you would like your candles. I did 12″, 10″, 8″ and 6″.
2. Use the Magic Eraser and nail polish remover to remove the red and black print on the side of the pipe as best you can. I couldn’t get it to come off 100% but that’s fine, you’ll paint over it and if the paint doesn’t cover it all just add a wax drip over it!
3. Use the glue gun to create the look of the melted wax at the top of the candle and drips down the side. Keep the gun close to the pipe; you don’t want any strings. Do this in layers so you build up the wax look really nice. Let dry.
4. Spray paint white and let dry.
5. Cut a section of the insulation with your knife. I cut maybe a 2″ section. Insert in the top of the PVC pipe. This will hold the LED candle.
6. Add details and age the candle with your acrylic paints. There is a really great tutorial HERE that I referred to. They used a different method for the inside of the candles but I used the info on how to paint pretty closely. Basically I painted the entire candle with a foam brush using a mix of the tan and white paints. I used a combination of my foam brush and paint brush to get a mixture of dark brown and black paint into all the crevices to create the shadows. Then I took a paper towel (sometimes a little damp, sometimes dry) and wiped at the shadow painted areas to create the effect I wanted. I used the foam brush to add some highlights over the top with a mix of tan/white/brown. It’s really whatever you like. I hated my first version so I painted over it and started again. In the end, it kind of looks like a Monet; from far away it’s OK, but up close it’s a big old mess. (Who got the Clueless quote right there?? Anyone? Bueller??)
7. Add the LED candle at the top. You can push the insulation up or down to show more or less of the “flame”.
8. Some people will glue these together in clusters but I liked keeping mine separate so I can place them however I like.