Hand Blown Glass Candle Holders 

Whether this is a gift for yourself or is a gift for a friend, hand blown glass candle holders are very special, and should be handled carefully! But you can get some equally pleasing results from gold-washed etched glass votive candle holders as explained below. This is not for the inexperienced crafter though. If you do not work much with crafts, you might be as well starting with something simpler that needs fewer supplies and is therefore less expensive to make, like scented jar candles. Or go and purchase some hand blown glass candleholders.

Gold-Washed Etched Glass Votive Candle Holders

by Eileen Bergen

Supplies

Clear Glass Container(s) (I used votive candle holders, but
any size or type of clear glass container can be used in this
project.)
Delta Air-Dry PermEnamel Surface Conditioner
Delta Air-Dry PermEnamel White Frost Glass Etching Paint
Delta Air-Dry PermEnamel Clear Gloss Glaze
Delta Air-Dry PermEnamel Diluent
Delta Air-Dry PermEnamel Satin Finish 14K Gold Paint for Tile,
Glass & Ceramic
Newspaper
Paint brush
Small make-up type sponge
Cup or film canister for paint mixing
Bottom half of empty egg carton.

I decided to finish off my project by heat embossing some stars around the rim of the candle holders. This step and the following supplies are optional.

Detail Gold Embossing Powder
InkADinkADo Celestial Rubber Stamp Collection

Embossing Heat Tool
Clean sheet of paper to retrieve unused embossing powder.

Directions

1. Wash candle holder(s) in hot soapy water. Drip dry.

2. Place candle holder(s) upside down on newspaper. Brush exterior with surface conditioner and let air dry. Once conditioned, do not touch the surface to be etched. The oils from your fingers will prevent the etching cream from working.

3. Using a clean (make-up type) sponge, wipe etching cream over the surface of the glass. Smooth carefully to be sure there are no bumps. Let dry. I used three coats to get the level of etched look I wanted.

4. In a small paper or plastic cup or film canister, mix equal parts of 14K Gold Paint with Clear Gloss Glaze. Dilute this mix with diluent (1 part paint to 3 parts diluent) to obtain a free-flowing
paint for the wash.

5. Turn the candle holder(s) upright. Pour the wash in and carefully rotate the container to cover the interior with the gold paint. When you are satisfied with the depth and evenness of coverage,
pour any excess paint into the next glass container to be painted or into the film canister if there is enough to save. Invert the glass candle holder(s) and gently set on the inverted egg carton bottom.
After a few minutes, tilt to a different angle so that the paint drains without leaving drip marks.

If you decide to add embossing, proceed with the following steps.

1. Choose your stamp and press firmly into the clear ink pad included in the Celestial stamp kit.

2. Carefully position the stamp above the glass. Since I embossed the upper rim. I used my little finger to help position the stampings equidistant from the top edge. Because you're stamping on a curved surface, you need to stamp with a slight rolling movement, taking care not to smudge the design. If you make a mistake, simply wipe the area with surface conditioner. Move to another area to work while the boo-boo dries.

3. With the clean paper underneath, tap a small amount of embossing powder onto the stamped area. Tap off excess powder. If the design is satisfactory, move the glass away from the paper so you don't blow powder you are trying to save all over the place. I used detail powder because my
stamp has very small details which wouldn't be clear with regular embossing powder.

4. Hold the embossing heat gun about 3 inches above the glass, turn it on and move it over the embossed area until the embossing beads gleam. This means they have melted and fused together and onto your glass. If you are doing multiple stampings, the glass will build up significant heat. If it gets too hot to handle, set it down for a few minutes.

Whether you are making these gold-washed etched votive candle holders for gifts or to sell, include a candle with each one. It doesn't cost you much, but nicely completes your work.