Thread: Fake Cheap Candles... I can't stop making them!!

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Because I'm too big of a chicken to use Great Stuff anymore (I was told it's flammable) and I am too lazy to cut PVC pipe, I went looking for an easier way to create cheap fake candles... I found Dave Lowe's blog post on using cardboard tubes (ie toilet paper and paper towel rolls)... and NOW, no cylinder in my home is safe from being "candle-ized"! I've moved on from cardboard tubes to aluminum cans! I made six Red Bull "candles" last night...

Some of the cans didn't get the best treatment on the bottom, so I may go add some more "wax" (hot glue) to those. Just have to drop in an led tealight and they're ready to go. They'll look ok from a distance and in dim lighting anyway

Here's the latest batch...

Wow! That is a great idea! I been saving toilet paper rolls but didn't know what to use them for!

The only reason I prefer the cans at this point was because the cardboard tubes needed some decopage work to hide the seams, because my "wax" wasn't covering them. I did a layer of horizontal newspaper strips and then a layer of vertical ones... dry... base coat of paint... dry... then hot glue drips. These also need a weight at the bottom or they just kinda flop over...

The cans don't have either problem, since I left the bottoms in and there are no seams. I didn't build shleves for the tealights either... I just threw them in the bottom and they look pretty good, since the inside of the can is pretty reflective. You just can't see the flame that way. Depends on the look you're going for I guess.

Great job!!!
I use gs but of course don't use a real flame anywhere near it lol.
I assume you are using them indoors...would they be destroyed outside?
I use pvc but sometimes get the fittings to save on the cutting I use them outside.
Yours look great.