I really love making stuff. And our wedding details are no exception. I set out to find the perfect unity candle, but the ones I found all seemed either too plain or too 'stuffy' for us. So, I decided I'd just make one! Here are the steps so you can do the same! I might even start designing and selling these babies after May 29th is over and I need excuses to design fun stuff like this!
STEP ONE:
Choose your candle. I went with an aquamarine pillar.
STEP TWO:
Print out the design/shape/pattern that you'd like to apply to the candle.
STEP THREE:
Using a very sharp X-Acto knife, meticulously cut out your design from the pattern.
((Looks like fun, huh?!))
STEP FOUR:
Arrange your pieces in a way that will make laying them out easy. In this pic, you can see the areas where I took extra time, and where I got a little impatient and rushed through the X-Acto-ing. ((It goes without saying that taking your time obviously makes it look nicer. But after an hour of cutting the bitsy parts, I realized that even the people sitting nearest the candle would be at least ten feet away.))
STEP FIVE (not pictured, due to lack of extra hands): Apply a collage adhesive (Mod Podge works best) to the back of each piece, arranging them in their correct positions as you go. For my TINY pieces, I found it worked well to "skewer" each piece on the tip of my X-Acto, paint the Mod Podge on the backside using a small paintbrush, then position the piece in place before removing the tip of the blade. ((Call me for clarification if you are prone to cutting yourself while crafting. I'll give you an in-house demo and save you a trip to the ER.))
STEP SIX (also not pictured): Apply a coat of Mod Podge over the top of the design to seal it and guarantee it won't peel off. And now...you're DONE!!
And no one else on the whole planet will have a candle like the one you hold in your hands! Pretty cool, if you ask me.