Tissue Paper "Stained Glass" Candle Holders


I had two more leftover Glade candle holders to makeover and I decided to give them the "stained glass" treatment with tissue paper. I collected the brightest colored tissue paper I could find in my stash to try to shake me from my winter doldrums (seriously, when is winter going to be over...).  


I chopped my colored paper into various sizes of squares and rectangles.  I just tried to cut up a bunch so I wouldn't have to pause while gluing to cut up more.  I ended up cutting more after the first candleholder was covered (my first pile is pictured below), but I had a bunch leftover when I was all done, so it was probably just the sizes that I liked the best that I happened to be out of.


After I had a nice pile of randomly cut squares, I used a foam brush to paint about 2 inches of mod podge onto the candle holder.  This was about the largest area I seemed to be able to work in before the glue would start to dry before I could get my squares positioned.


Then I tapped down some squares of colored tissue paper onto my glue, staggering the colors and overlapping the squares as I went. Don't worry too much about paper hanging over the top and bottom, you can trim it or glue it down when you're done. Also, don't worry about little gaps. Once I had everything mostly covered, I went back in with smaller pieces and covered any gaps.


Once your squares are glued on, I set the candle holders aside to dry for about 10 minutes. Just long enough for the glue to set up so that the tissue paper wasn't so fragile and easily torn. Then I did any trimming I needed to.


Once I was sure the tissue paper was trimmed and had good coverage and patterns, I carefully painted on a layer of mod podge over the top of the tissue paper.  Be careful of all of the edges, it's easy for an edge that wasn't stuck down carefully to flip up or flip over when painting the top coat on. 


Once the glue was dry and clear (about a half hour), I popped some LED tea lights in them and tested them out.  They give off such a pretty glow in those springy colors.


These are a pretty easy and quick project, but if you've never worked with tissue paper and mod podge, be careful when you are first gluing it down. As soon as the tissue paper gets wet, it tears very easily. So when you are first gluing the tissue paper down, try to keep your fingers as dry as possible and and just tap the paper down. Don't worry too much if the edges aren't all glued down, it's easier to glue them down after the initial glue has set than to risk tears.


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