Thrifty Fix: Recycled Holiday Votive Candles

Yesterday I promised I’d dish the dirt on how I crafted these holiday candle holders on the cheap by using items I had around the house.

Nothing cozies up a room for the holidays like colorful and festive candle light.  But with a limited budget, and even more limited storage space, buying a bunch of colorful Christmas-only candle holders is just not an option.  Instead, I raided the stash of glass jars I’d saved from the recycle bin.  I knew they’d come in handy eventually!

Here’s how I turned old pickle and olive jars into whimsical Christmas candle holders. First, I chose the wide-mouth jars so that candles would easily fit inside of them. I’d cleaned the jars before storing them, of course, but that pesky label glue residue still had to be dealt with.  With a little help from my friend “Goo Gone” I removed the residue in a jiffy!  I’d heard great things about this product in the past – but had never tried it.  After one use, I’m sold!

Next, I found some holiday-themed craft paper in my scrapbooking supplies.  I cut a piece of scrapbook paper to fit to wrap around the jar and be as tall as the jar.  I hot-glued one edge to the jar, then wrapped the paper snug around the entire jar, gluing the other end of the paper to the first.  Seriously, folks – it was that simple. Anyone can do this craft!

Within an hour a multitude of jars were decorated. Thanks to my new glue gun (the best $4 purchase ever), I was able to put these together in a snap.  I even spruced up some glass bottles to add a bit of height to the mix.

I set the finished votives on my new living room shelf, but it was a bit boring looking.

I ventured outside with my pruning shears.  In the past I was never that thrilled about the multitude of evergreen-type bushes surrounding my condo, but on this day they were handy.  I snipped a few assorted branches and brought them in to add some more festive holiday ambiance to my living room shelves.

It’s a start, though I will add more this weekend when the boyfriend and I put up a tree.   (whee!)  I dropped some little votive candles in the jars, then lit them and enjoyed the cozy glow:

I stood back, admired my handiwork, and enjoyed a moment of being quite pleased with myself.  Such a cheap and easy project for the holidays, and one that I can switch up for different seasons!

So what do you think?  Isn’t this a great way to reuse old jars before sending them to the recycling bin?