How to decorate candles with rubber stamps

I have recently became an Independent Demonstrator for a rubber stamping company. Starting this business has really got me on the look out for more ways to use stamps. The other day I came across stamping on candles. This is a really great way to decorate and personalize candles. This project brings together two of my favorite things, stamping and candles!

There are a few ways to do this. I tested out four different ways because I had a square pillar candle. Only one of the methods totally worked for me. What didn't work was embossing. I tried embossing on paper and then putting on the candle and embossing directly onto the candle. When the candle wax was heated the embossing powder just ran all over the place. It wasn't very pretty. On the third side of the candle I tried stamping directly onto the candle. I heated the wax and them pressed the stamp into it. I got a good stamped impression but the ink didn't stick to the candle. I think this would have worked if I had paints to rub into the stamped image.

Now for what did work. I stamped my image onto toilet paper and then adhered the paper to the candle.

To do this you will need:

pillar candles

embossing/heat gun

ink pads or markers

stamps

tissue paper/ toilet paper

Begin by inking your stamps and stamping your image onto the tissue paper. If the paper has layers, peel them away so you only have one layer. Then place the stamped paper onto the candle. You may need to use a little glue to hold the paper in place. Next, use your heat gun to slowly melt the candle wax. As the wax melts it should soak into the paper and cause the paper to adhere to the candle. Try not to over melt the wax. If you are doing this on a round candle placing a pile of paper towels under the candle can help keep it from rolling around. When the wax cools you can add raffia or ribbons to your candle.

As you can see from the picture, my candle didn't come out perfectly. My words are on crooked because I forgot to glue them down first. I still had fun doing it. This was an easy project to complete and I would recommend it for beginners. If you are planning a event like a wedding you could decorate all the candles this way. For large projects like that, get some friends together and start a stamping assembly line. Kids can do this too. They can do the stamping while and adult runs the heat gun. I love candles. Now that I have learned how to stamp on candles I think I love them more.