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PVC Flicker Candles

379K views 484 replies 206 participants last post by  Artcurus Art 
#1 ·
Parts List:

~ 1 1/2" PVC Pipe - Full length 8-10 ft pipes --> Home Depot
~ Great Stuff Insulation Filler - Link --> Home Depot
~ LED Tea Lights - Pic --> 99 Cent Only Store
~ Hot Glue --> Wal-Mart
~ Hot Glue Gun - Pic --> Wal-Mart
~ 1 1/2" Forstner Drill Bit (or whats the size of your tea lights are) - Link - Pic --> Home Depot
~ Rustoleum Painters Touch Spray Paint (Heirloom White - Satin) - Link --> Home Depot

Steps:

1. Cut your long PVC pipe to your desired lengths. I used a chop saw (Pic) but if you don't have that then you can use a hacksaw. I went in 2 inch increments (12", 10", 8"...etc.). I also tried to cut them a little taller or shorter than each one of the those increments so each candle looked to be a unique size.

2. Place the pipes upright on a hard surface. Make sure you cover the surface with some type of material since the foam insulation will come in contact with it. I just put down some painter's paper on my garage floor and set the pipe on top of that.

3. Fill the pipes with Great Stuff Insulation Foam. I usually filled mine about 1/2" from the top since it expands.


4. Let the foam dry completely. I filled mine up at night and then worked on them the next day.

5. Cut off the foam so it is even with the pipe. I came back with chop saw to trim it off or I found you can just slice it off with a hacksaw as well.


6. Use you forstner bit to trim down the foam inside the pipe to the desired height you want the tealight to sit. I found that putting the drill in high speed mode rather than high torque works best. Drill slowly so the bit cleanly slices away the foam. If you go to fast the bit just rips out chunks.


7. Once you have the pipes drilled out it's time to apply the hot glue. I found that using a high temp hot glue gun works the best. Since the gun is high temp the glue becomes very runny and creates nice drips. Just work around the pipe and going in multiple layers seems to give a nice effect. Another thing I found out through the whole process is try to make a nice long drip right over the printing on the pipe. When you paint it it will help in covering up the printing.

8. After the glue is dry you are ready for paint. If the printing on the pipe is showing you can try to remove it by sanding it off or using nail polish remover to take it off. Spray the candles in nice smooth strokes making sure you get all the nooks and crannies around the drips. It took me 2-3 coats to get the printing on the pipe to not show through.



 
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#61 ·
so i love harry potter and the dining scene with all the candles hanging in mid air and lit. i am doing a mystical, magical, madness theme this year with witches, wizards, warlocks, magicans, and genies. i was in chat with dogman and mentioned i would love to have candles in the air, so dogman hits me with this tuitorial. i am so going to hang these little guys all over my haunt this year. these are awesome. thank you thank you thank you
 
#64 ·
Not for sure if it would be strong enough to support them but you can make an invisible thread from stuff called wooly nylon thread. It's made of single strings and you separate one from the bundle. It's fairly tiny and a few of these attached to the candle to something else might not show up.
 
#67 ·
Thanks Jimmyzdc,
My candles look awesome!! And being impatient I decided to use some round wooden closet rod I had laying around, cut them in about 2 inch pieces, drilled and counter sunk holes in the side of the PVC, put wooden rod inside the PVC pipe, lay the pipe on its side, place a candle on top of that and push it down flush with the top of the PVC, screwed in a short 1/2 inch screw through the predrilled hole and into the wood. This eliminated the price of the foam and the drill bit. Not to mention the wait for the foam to cure.
 
#68 ·
Thanks

Thanks Jimmyzdc,
My candles look awesome!! And being impatient I decided to use some round wooden closet rod I had laying around, cut them in about 2 inch pieces, drilled and counter sunk holes in the side of the PVC, put wooden rod inside the PVC pipe, lay the pipe on its side, place a candle on top of that and push it down flush with the top of the PVC, screwed in a short 1/2 inch screw through the predrilled hole and into the wood. This eliminated the price of the foam and the drill bit. Not to mention the wait for the foam to cure.
 
#70 ·
I just did a set for my cousin who lives out of town and was on her way back before I could finish them with foam. I just put a bead of glue on the inside of the pvc, put a circle of cardboard (actually part of a cigarette hard pack) in and then just flooded that with a layer of hot glue. It turned out fairly strong. I couldn't push it out so it will more than handle the tealight.
 
#76 · (Edited)
Thank you so much everybody! Here's a quick tutorial. I put up a more detailed one at my photo album: Halloween Forum - Terra's Album: Outdoor flicker lights

Okay, to make the outdoor flicker candles:



I wanted to group my candles so I glued them together using PVC glue. Then I cut out circles in 1 1/2 inch blue or pink foam.



I cut off the clip that is attached to the Christmas flicker light socket. Now, I needed to extend the wiring between the sockets to reach the tall candles. I'm not going to give instructions on how I did that because I want to be the only one who can possibly be electrocuted by my guessed way of water-proofing electrical connections. So either make shorter candles or find a safe way to make waterproof electrical connections. Sorry.

Insert your socket into the foam and snuggle back down into the candle.



Caulk the top to seal and then cut out circles of blue painter's tape to keep hot glue and gunk from getting into the socket. Determine where you want excess rainwater to run off and mark. If you need to make a lower channel, cut out with your Dremel. Then begin to raise up the top of the candle using hot glue. This adds a great glowing effect and helps to hide the bottom of the bulb.


To make candle drippings on the side, make wide zig-zag passes being sure to butt up next to each other so gravity will help it drift down. Repeat these layers until you get what you are looking for. To make large drips at the bottom, push extra glue onto one spot and it will slowly drop down and cool into a great looking drip. Spray paint with matte ivory or white paint. Flat looks dead and I would think that gloss would look weird.



Here's what I'm trying to attain in the graveyard. I so loved what Skull and Bone did that I wanted to replicate it. The tombstones are not done being painted yet, by the way.
 
#79 ·
@ Terra, Bravo! I really like your candles!

atm, I'm underwhelmed with the tea lights I purchased. They are way too dim, even with silicon tip instead of the plastic. (actually made is worse, and the light green) How much light do these put off? I'm assuming a fair amount if they are x-mas lights, but was curious.

@ everyone else... are there any electrical wiz's out there that might be able to help us non-electrical haunters out with some safe/effective ways to do this kind of wire hack?
 
#83 ·
That's awesome Terra. I was checking yours out and I think next year I'm gonna modify mine to your method using the flicker bulbs. This way i can have my display running every night on a timer rather than just being able to use it on Halloween night. I think it should be fairly easy since I have all the painting and hot glue done ;) BTW My wife loves you tombstones, especially "Beloved"
 
#85 ·
That's awesome Terra. I was checking yours out and I think next year I'm gonna modify mine to your method using the flicker bulbs. This way i can have my display running every night on a timer rather than just being able to use it on Halloween night. I think it should be fairly easy since I have all the painting and hot glue done ;) BTW My wife loves you tombstones, especially "Beloved"
Wow, jimmyzdc, thanks for the kudos. I really, really loved your idea but since I figured I needed 60 of those puppies, I didn't want to go to each one every night and turn them on and then off. Them all being on a timer is very nice and worry free.

Maui: They are hard wired. Basically they are a hacked set of Christmas flicker lights.

TNTBrad: I planned for possible water collecting by placing the hot glue almost all the way around the perimeter. I helped it along by Dremeling a channel before the hot glue. Swing by the tutorial at my albums and you will see pictures of what I did. Also, there's a tiny bit of open areas in the flicker bulb socket itself so I assumed that was part of the design. So I didn't seal the bottom of the candles so if any water did get into the pipe, it would drain away.

They've been on every night for two weeks and I haven't even burned out a bulb (knock on my toe-pincher).
 
#87 ·
I'm still curious to know if there are any haunters in the community that could share tid-bits on how to correctly "hack" a string of x-mas lights for safe outdoor use. Terra is saving us from zapping ourselves via her method, so I was hoping someone would shed some *cough* light on the subject.

Anyone?
 
#89 ·
I'm still curious to know if there are any haunters in the community that could share tid-bits on how to correctly "hack" a string of x-mas lights for safe outdoor use. Terra is saving us from zapping ourselves via her method, so I was hoping someone would shed some *cough* light on the subject
:::groan::: :)

When I made mine I used raw wire and C7 light sockets to essentially make my own Christmas light string.

Push E.
 
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