DIY Brilliance: Illuminate Your Space with The Dabble Spot's Original Candle Holder Design (Part 1)

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Hi Dabblers!

I’m so ready for January and the wintery cozy nights are here.

This winter I want to delve into candlelight and sweaters! First, I designed a multiple array of candle holders in one that is modern and old-time. Have to give it up to our great great great great ancestors.

I’m so excited about getting the candleholder to materialize. I bought polymer clay to make ornaments for the tree but my depression for the season got to me so that never happened. So, today I broke it out to start working on my design.

I’m using Sculpey ultralight white. I want the candle to stand out so I’m keeping it simple with the color. I wanted ultralight for tree ornaments but I’m finding it too soft for the candle holder.

I squashed my first attempt; rolling it out too thin and working without a pattern unintentionally resulted in a mitered seam. It resembles more of a creamer cup than a holder for a small candle.

I don’t have any other clay on hand. So, tomorrow I’m going to make it thicker and fix the other issues I had with it as well.

I took brown packing paper from my rabbits to make a pattern. I had to wait until they were asleep. Vicious they are with their belongings.

Standard votive candles are 1 1/2” wide at the bottom. I made the bottom of mine 1 3/4” wide for tolerance.

Once I figured the circumference (diameter x pi), I created the bottom of the cup. Wanting the cup to be even I folded the paper in half and halved the circumference with a 1/2” arc. Most votives are 2” tall and I made the pattern 2 1/2” tall for the 1/4” thickness for the bottom piece and to go a little above the candle for the rest of the holder.

To have the cup even all around you have to have 90 degree corners and test it out before cutting the clay which was my mistake yesterday. The pattern above I did forget the seam allowance and had to add a strip of clay to help close. The pattern in the shop does have the seam allowance of 1/8” for overlapping.

I rolled out the clay with 1/4” thickness and cut it out by using the pattern. I put it together and tried to smooth it out as best as I could. I do not have tools for clay so I’m giving this design a rustic touch.

Following the packaging instructions for baking. I heated up the oven to 275 degrees. Then put the cup on a baking sheet with parchment paper and had it cook for 15 minutes because the thickness is 1/4” all around.

Once it cooled down, it is super light! I will only use this for my prototype and remake it with a sturdier clay.

The clay did not shrink and looks exactly the same as before being put into the oven, but this time it is cured and no longer bends. However, it can be easily broken with pressure.

If you want to make it, here's the link to the shop for the free pattern.

In the next installment of this series, I'll cover crafting the part to hold taper candles in this cup. Subscribe to stay informed about my upcoming posts!

Happy Creating and be kind to yourself,

Laurie & Bex