Decoupage Tealight Holders Workshop

In October the fabulous Gabriela Szulman came to show us her craft work and teach us how to make decoupage candle holders. Read on to see how we got on and what we made!

Decoupage Candle Holder Instructions

Materials and Tools

Patterned paper napkins: the ones that work best are those with a light background. The three main places where I buy these are IkeaTiger and online sources such as Napkin Shop on Ebay

Decoupage glue for glass and porcelain: available from Little Crafty bugs, £12.95 (250 ml size)

Medium flat brush

Scissors

Damp cloth, paper towels

Sandpaper

The Glass

Used jam jars make great tea-light holders. Another alternative are Galej ( 4 for £1) or Glasig (5 for £1.50) tea-light holders from Ikea.

Charity shops and Pound shops can be a good source of plain glass items.

Process

Prepare the paper: napkins always have three layers which you need to separate, keep just the top one. Use the tip of a scalpel knife if you find it difficult to separate the layers.

Plan your pattern: you can either use torn or cut pieces with as little overlap as possible for a free-flowing, mosaic effect, or go for something that is quite precise with cut shapes that are arranged in relation to each other.

If you choose the second option, check that all the shapes fit inside your item before you start gluing.

Apply glue on the inside of the base base first and work your way upwards. Brush a thin layer on the glass, then place a paper piece no larger than a 50 p coin so that wrinkles are kept to a minimum, press it down with your fingers and the add another layer of glue on top. Do this piece by piece and make sure the paper lays completely flat on the glass. After you’ve applied the top layer of glue the paper ought to look completely transparent.

Once your item is fully decoupaged and dry, sand down the rim to remove any extra bits of paper.

To set the glue, bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 160 degrees centigrade or gas mark 3(reduce the temperature to 140 degrees if using a fan oven). Check after 20 minutes to make sure the paper is not turning brown! Allow to cool down and your newly decoupaged creation is ready for use.

More from Gabriela

To find out more about Gabriela’s work and classes check out her beautiful website.

If you would like to receive invitations to her open studios and other events plus information about upcoming workshops, sign up for Gabriela’s mailing list here.

And if you’re into social media you may want to follow her on InstagramTwitter or Facebook.

The Montage

We are Open to New Members!

Don’t forget we are currently open for new members! So if you know anyone who you think would like to join us to meet other local ladies, enjoy great events and learn new skills then please spread the word.  They can contact us here or simply turn up at one of our monthly meetings and find out what we’re all about for themselves. More information about guests and joining the East Dulwich WI can be found here.


For further about our WI, please contact us here

EDWI October 2018: Decoupage Tealight Holders – Instructions and Pictures

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