Friday, December 5, 2014

Easy candle update: Boring blue to TARDIS!!

Some friends of ours recently bought their first house.  My go-to housewarming gift is candles--I love candles (I have so many, guys)--but these friends also happen to be fellow Whovians, so I decided to get a little crafty...

Easy candle update: Boring blue to TARDIS!!

This project is super easy.  You only need a few basic supplies:

Supplies/materials.

  • Candle in blue glass jar or tumbler (I got mine at Bath & Body Works)
  • Printout of TARDIS signage
  • Mod Podge
  • Foam brush
  • Scissors
  •  Wax paper (for worksurface)

First, peel off the candle's original label:


Most come off pretty easily.  (I've done this a few times.  I don't think there are any candles left in my house that I haven't relabeled.)

Next, cut out your TARDIS signage:


I measured my candle, then resized a graphic I found online.  I like to guess at the perfect size, then make one bigger and one smaller, and print off all three so that I can cut them out and decide which one's the winner.

I ended up deciding that the candle was still lacking something, though, so I printed off another graphic:


I measured the circumference of the candle, which was longer than a single sheet of paper, so I printed off three of the "Police Box" graphics, each resized to 1/3 the candle's circumference.  (I also printed off another "Pull to open" sign, slightly resized, to give myself yet another option.)


Fortunately, I could fit two of these on a line, so I only had to line up two breaks when it came to gluing them onto the candle.

I set up to brush Mod Podge on the first "Police Box" strip:


And here it is, covered in glue:


Then I carefully placed it below the top edge of the candle:


I did the same for the smaller strip:


I tried to line it up perfectly, but you can still see the break if you look closely enough.  One side overlaps just a little bit:


Next, I picked which size of my four options for the "Pull to open" sign looked best on the candle, and brushed glue on the back and placed it where I wanted it:


It took me a little while to decide if I liked it better centered under the graphic (under "Public Call") or off to the left (under "Police").  Eventually, I opted for the latter, since this sign is, after all, on the left side of the TARDIS:

Source unknown; sorry!

The last step is brushing a final layer of Mod Podge over the new labels:


Do this carefully; stray brushstrokes on the glass will be noticeable.  I go a little past the edge of the paper on each side.


Once it's all glued in place, let it dry.

Here it is, finished and dry:


Not gonna lie, I was a little bit tempted to keep it for myself...


...but I think it will go well with our friends' Dalek poster. :-)

So what's the geekiest home decor project you've worked on recently?