Looking for a great personalized gift idea? Follow this tutorial and learn how to make personalized photo candles.
This is Suzy from Suzy’s Sitcom! As a crafter, this is the time of year that I am always on the look out for great handmade gift ideas. I especially love to make personalized gifts and this week I came across an idea to make personalized photo candles.
We are currently taking a break from traveling and spending some quality time with our family in Georgia. Of course, that involves taking tons of photos of my granddaughter. It has been six months since we have seen her and she is growing so fast!
Sharing them on Facebook is always an option, but how about something that will become a cherished keepsake? I decided to take some of my favorite photos of my daughter and her family and create beautiful photo candles to remind me of how beautiful they are!
How to Make Personalized Photo Candles
This project is surprisingly easy, takes very few supplies, and results in some amazing gifts! Personalized Photo Candles are a unique idea and sure to be a hit.
What you need:
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Tools:
Instructions
Here’s how to make personalized photo candles at home and save money.
1. Edit & REsize Your Photos
Choose some photos that you love. In this project, I used a photo editor called Picmonkey to convert my photos to black and white. (Color photos are fine too)!
I used Microsoft Powerpoint to arrange my photos in the sizes that I wanted. Since my candles were different sizes, I needed different-sized photos.Â
You can also do this step in PicMonkey too. Measure the space on your candle and make the photo the size it needs to be to fit.
2. Print your photos
Tape a piece of tissue paper to a sheet of copy paper. (Be sure to tape on all four sides, otherwise, you might end up with a paper jam). Place the sheet of paper so that the printer will print on the tissue paper side. Print out your photos.
3. Prepare the candle
Cut out the photos to the sizes that you would like, separating the tissue paper from the copy paper. Place a tissue paper photo on the side of the candle with the ink side out.
Cover with a sheet of wax paper.
4. Melt the photo into the candle
Holding the photo in place with the wax paper, aim a hairdryer at the photo. The heat from the hairdryer will cause the wax to soften and melt into the photo tissue paper.
This process does not take long. Be careful not to overheat the candle because the wax will start to melt. The process is complete when you can easily remove the wax paper and the photo stays in place.
I started with the smallest candle just in case the process did not work well. It turned out that all three candles were a great success!
Create something amazing with just a candle and a printer! It takes only a few minutes to make this beautiful gift. These pretty candles will be cherished for years to come!
Don’t want to burn these unique candles? Use a hole saw to cut a hole in the top of each candle. Place a small tea light candle in each. Just burn the tea light candle and the larger candle will remain intact!
I used black and white photos, but you can use color photos too. This works for all types of pictures.
This tutorial works for all types of candles. I prefer to use white pillar candles because they look the best when you transfer the photos from the paper.
If you want to personalize a glass candle, I suggest gluing the image onto the glass with Mod Podge. It dries clear and you can use any image you want.
Measure your candle area and then resize the picture to fit. There are lots of computer programs that allow you to resize your photo in inches. PicMonkey has this option. You can also convert inches to pixles and set your print size in pixels.
More Gift Ideas from the Sitcom!
Make Beautiful Photo Plate Wall Art!
DIY Miniature Vintage Suitcase Ornament
You may also enjoy these personalized gift ideas on Ideas for the Home by Kenarry® –
- Festive Frosted Candles
- Sea Glass Candle: How to Make an Embedded Candle
- How to Make a DIY Photo Keychain
Published December 10, 2018. Updated October 2020.
Suzi, glad you are enjoying your Grandbaby and family, you deserve it. I love this project, it’s easy and just in time for those special Christmas gifts. Thanks so much for sharing again. Everyone, if you haven’t done it already, cruise on over to Suzy’s website, she has amazing projects and most are for free. Thanks again Suzy, Merry Christmas. xxXX Grambo
Thank you! Hope that you are your family are having a wonderful holiday also! Take care, Grambo, and thank you so much for your support over the years! It means a lot. Suzy