★ Project Re-do: DIY Primitive Grubby (electric) Candles ★

If this were Tosh.0, I would be calling this a "web redemption".  Last year I saw a tutorial online for DIY grubby candles and attempted to make them myself (see my attempt here) only I didn't have all of the materials that the tutorial suggested (I used hot chocolate instead of instant coffee, and coffee grounds were the main ingredient in the coating).  They looked good at first, but very soon the coating started to crack off of the candles.  Pretty soon I had to throw them away.  While I haven't re-tried this on actual wax candles yet (although I do have some in my stash that I plan on making) I decided to try the project on some battery-powered candles that I had on hand this past Saturday.  So far so good!  No cracking yet!

These are the candles and candle holders before I did anything to them.  I tried finding brass or pewter candle holders at Goodwill, but I had no luck so I had to improvise.  I got these glass ones for $1 each at the Dollar Tree.



And these are the candles after I got my paws all over them.  I think they came out really nice.  Instant coffee is more expensive than I thought, so I just used acrylic paint to color the modge podge mixture instead, and used the instant coffee as my primary ingredient in the coating.  I painted the candle holders with black acrylic paint (3 coats) and tied a rustic ribbon around them.  I recommend spraying the candle holders with a sealer, since acrylic paint doesn't adhere well to glass, but I got lazy.  Eventually I will seal them, but they won't be handled too much.  I also painted the glass bulbs with a very thin layer of golden-yellow acrylic paint so that they give off a yellow-ish glow.  I haven't had them on long enough to see if it omits an acrylic-paint smell, but we'll see.  I super-glued them into the holders because they wobbled around a bit, and the batteries go in from the top, so the bottom doesn't open up.



Here is my tutorial:

Supplies:
- Electric/battery powered taper candles (I think I got mine at Christmas Tree Shops after Christmas last year)
- Modge podge (matte finish)
- Instant coffee
- Spices (I used allspice, cinnamon, & nutmeg)
- Ground coffee
- Glass taper candle holders (I got mine at Dollar Tree)
- Acrylic paint in brown & black
- Ribbon
- Super glue (optional - for gluing the candles to the holders if they don't stand upright)

Directions for Candles:
- Mix equal parts modge podge and water, then add some brown acrylic paint to tint the mod podge brown (don't worry if it isn't dark, mine was roughly the color of light chocolate milk).  You can mix in a jar for later use, or I just mixed mine in a disposable cup.  Remember you don't need a lot of it.
- In a zip-lock bag, mix together some instant coffee, spices, and a small amount of ground coffee for texture.  There's no science behind this - just use any combination you want.
- Empty the dry mixture onto a piece of tin foil and spread out.
- Using a paintbrush or sponge, apply the modge podge mixture around the candle.  Hold the glass bulb to keep the mixture from getting all over your hands.
- Roll the candle in the dry mixture until completely coated.  Apply more modge podge in sections that seem to be sparse.  Lay on a paper plate or tin foil and let dry for 30 minutes.
- When someone dry, apply a generous coating of the modge podge mixture to the the coated candle & stand candle up somewhere to dry (mine stood right up on the paper plate).  Let dry for 2-3 hours to avoid smudging the coating.

Directions for Candle Holders:
- Set candle holders on a piece of newspaper, and paint with black (or whatever color you choose) acrylic paint.  Allow the first layer of paint to dry (acrylic paint dries relatively quickly) and repeat process two more times to ensure an even coating with no glass peeking through.
- When the final layer is completely dry, tie a ribbon around the stem of the candle holder.






I will re-post a tutorial on how to make these with wax candles once I make them again myself.
Enjoy!