Professional event planners and decorators often use votive candles to create a warm, intimate setting for an event. If you’ve ever been in an outdoor reception or event where votive candles were hung in the surroundings, you know how romantic and peaceful hanging candles can make a setting. You can achieve the same kind of atmosphere in your own outdoor space, or even indoors.
Make your own hanging candle holders
To hang votive candles, you’ll need a non-flammable candle holder that can be hung. You can make your own hanging candle holders if you have a few simple items: • Clean, empty glass jars. You can save empty glass jelly jars, salsa jars or other jars. You can use a variety of shapes or save jars from the same type of food over a period of time so that they all match. Another option is to simply buy some canning jars for the project. Sometimes thrift stores will have glass jars that you can buy very cheaply • 20-gauge wire or whatever gauge gives you the look you want and is still pliable enough to work with. You can buy wire pretty cheaply at hardware stores. Sometimes you can choose from wires of different colors, such as black, silver, gold, or even metallic reds, greens, blues, and more. • Needle-nose pliers that have wire cutters.
Wrap the wire tightly around the neck of the jar and twist the ends tightly together. Cut the wire and tuck in sharp ends with the wire cutters. Cut a piece of wire that is twice as long as you want the hanger to be, plus several extra inches. With the needle-nose pliers, twist each end of the hanger around the neck piece so that the two ends of the hanger piece are equally spaced from each other. Be careful not to loosen the wire neck piece in this process, and remember to curl or tuck in sharp ends. At the middle of the hanger wire piece, bend the wire into a hook shape that can be used to hang the jar. You can also use the wire to create rustic or interesting designs around the jar.
Choose traditional or battery operated candles.
Melt the bottom of the candle you will be using, and use kitchen tongs to gently place the candle securely on the inside bottom of the jar. Or, perhaps a better alternative is to place a loop or tape or a piece of tack on the bottom of a battery operated tealight, turn it on and use the tongs to place the flameless candle securely on the bottom inside of the jar. Battery operated tealights have the advantage of safety; without an open flame, you won’t need to worry about the danger of fire. You can get battery operated candles that have a flickering effect to mimic real candles, so you can hardly tell the difference between the live flame and the flameless candle. They also come in a wide variety of colors.
Buy a hanging votive candle holder.
If you can’t get the look you want by making your own hanging votive holders, there are a variety of hangable votive holders available to choose from. For instance, one type of hanging holder that you won’t be able to recreate at home is a ball shaped votive hanger. Votive hangers can generally be found inexpensively.
Choose where to hang your candles. You can hang your homemade or store-bought votive candle hangers on trees, pergolas, or along fences outside. There are also special decorative hanging stands for votive candles designed for indoor use. However you choose to do it, hanging candles is an attractive way to decorate for many occasions. For more decorative tips for votive candles, visit www.batteryoperatedcandles.net.