Tea Candle Covers

Here are the candle covers we worked on this week based on our birds. It's so easy to make a complicated pattern if it's flat- much easier than on a round can. I can see making these for the 4th of July, Halloween and Christmas. I placed our design above the height of the can edge for one test; below the can edge and the light does not shine through (so I put the candle directly on the stump for the picture - candle wax everywhere, dah!)  I say- opt for the can and the design above the can edge.
 

Materials:
"EZ Foil" oven rack liners (2 pack) with their edges cut off (adult job)
A sheet of fun foam
Push pin
Clear tape
Paper fasteners
Simple printed shapes- flowers, stars,snowflakes, bats, pumpkins etc. depending on the season 
Small low cans - tuna, chicken, chilis etc.
Tea candles or electric candles (never leave a lit candle unattended- right?



Wrap a piece of scrap paper around a short can and overlap about an inch. Remove the paper and trim it the height you want your cover. Place your design in the middle of the scrap paper, slightly above where the can edge would sit.









Place your design in the middle of the foil  (not to one side as we've done here in this picture).
Tape the paper to a piece of metal trimmed to the correct size.  
Lay the covered metal on top of a piece of fun foam on a protected surface (like a cutting mat) and use the push pin to poke holes to make the design.








 


Remember, you can peek under the paper or turn it over to look at the other side.
 
When you're finished poking, remove the paper (and/or add to the design).










Wrap the metal loosely (you will need a little wiggle room to accommodate the bottom paper fastener in the next step) around the can and tape it closed to hold the overlap.
Use an X-acto knife (adults job) to make 3 slits: about .5” from the top and the bottom and then one in the center (we started the slits with pin holes) of the overlap.
 


 





Poke the paper fasteners through the slits and spread the fasteners open inside to keep the metal ring closed.
Remove the tape.
Place over the tea candle in the can.
You could also make a giant tea candle and cover it.


 

Big Recycled Tea Candles

After piercing the foil last week to make our birds I started thinking about the lanterns I made when I was young (I went to Waldorf school and we did things like that). We'd freeze water in a can and use a nail and a hammer to punch a design in the side of the can- it's pretty common now. But there's really nothing like trying to hammer into an ice cold slippery can. So I'm working on some foil flame guards that are punched out while flat- easier for kids. In the meantime, I have all these little itty-bitty bits of tea candles in a box in the cupboard and this week I finally got around to doing something with them. My boy helped a bit- it's low temperature so I wasn't too worried about his participation (it' still hot wax so – caution!)


Materials:
Old bits of wax candles
Clean tuna fish (or chicken) can
Tweezers
1 new tea candle
Flat baking pan
A strip of decorating material: scrap booking paper, ribbon, washi tape, wrapping paper
Glue stick









Remove the wax bits and discard the outer metal cups of the tea candles.
Pile all the wax into a clean tuna fish can and put the can in a low pan.

Set the oven at 200 degrees and put the pan in the oven for about 30 minutes (check it half way through).
Take the pan out- leave the can in the pan!
Remove any wicks or nasty bits with tweezers (not your good ones).




 





You may need to add more wax or you can just stop there- I added a bit of old wax under my "new" tea candle as I wanted it to be flush with the wax surface when it cooled. After I'd made these my husband suggested threading a second wick up through the bottom wax blob to make the candle last longer...next time.












 


















 
When the wax has completely cooled, add a trimmed length of decoration material to the outside of the can and secure it in place with glue stick
Hey-  the wax popped out of the mold- shaaa-zam!
Recycle a can and candle wax and make something pretty.



Tinkering and Cinco De Mayo

I've designed several projects for work in the past for the Cinco de Mayo celebration (the Mexican holiday honoring the country's triumph over invading French forces) including Sombrero Hat Cookies and mini pepper pi̱atas (yup Рthat was me) but this year in our home, we're metal punching to honor the holiday (we've made ornaments at Christmas using this process).

Materials:
"EZ Foil" oven rack liners (2 pack) with their edges cut off (adult job) or any disposable foil pan
A sheet of Fun Foam
Push pins

Permanent Sharpie markers
Simple pictures- flowers might be nice (we used copies of Elliott's bird drawings and some copies from the Charlie Harper Coloring Book)
Tape and Scissors

Elliotts drawing and a B&W copy

















Cut the edges off one pan- we tried smoothing out the grooves with a bone folder and a tongue depressor over waxed paper but really, it wasn't necessary with such a big piece (maybe with a pie tin?)



 


Cut out the image being reproduced and tape it to a piece of metal trimmed to the same size.








Round any sharp metal corners with regular scissors.






 








Make sure to use a straight pin- not one with a nub or defect like the one shown here- okay?
Lay the covered metal on top of a piece of fun foam on a protected surface (like a cutting mat) and use the push pin to poke holes on the images lines.
Remember you can pick up the design and look at it on the other side or peek under the paper.

When you're finished poking, remove the paper and trim around the edges of the design.
















Use permanent color markers to color in or leave the shapes plain.






























 














We hung ours on a stick with string- the holes are already there!