Candaliere Tutorial

You are groovalicious!  I say that because you came back to visit again and I lurves me some visitors. I love sitting with you and sharing parts of our lives with each other.  So if you are here it means you want to make a candaliere!!

Okay then, let's not waste any more time and get started shall we? Here's a reminder picture of the Candaliere:


Here's the skinny on how a sidelight became a candle lit candaliere:

What you need:
-Any sort or wood shape, about 2 inches across: can be oval (like mine), round, square, rectangle you name, it it'll work. Mine was a piece of door sidelight molding found on the trash!

-party light candles, mine were in the little votive glass already. I used 24 for this.

-4 D-ring picture hangers

-GOOP adhesive

-ribbon of choice or heavy duty wire/chain (had already)

Total cost: $22.00

You can leave your wood piece its natural color or spray paint it like I did. I wanted it to look like metal since my porch bed is metal so I sprayed it with Rustoleum Oil-rubbed Bronze. If you paint it, make sure you do both top and bottom and all sides. Mine can be raised or lowered so I didn't want it to look incomplete if it sat at a  lower level. Also, the "molded" side faces the floor so that the candles sit on the flat side

Make sure the paint is completely dry before moving on to the next steps.

Attach the D-ring hangers  on the flat side of the molding on each end. Make sure you place them exactly the same distance from each end or it will be uneven, once hung. 

Lay out your candles to see how you want them spaced

Turn the candles over so their bottoms are facing up at the exact spot that you want them on the oval.

Apply a dab of GOOP to the bottom of the votive glass and on the wood exactly where the votive will sit.

Let cure for about two minutes then smush them together.

Let completely dry before hanging. 

Because it was a bit hot yesterday it took about 3 hours for the glue to dry. 

This will vary so plan to do other crafty projects while waiting!!!  

Or you can just cut your ribbon to your desired length, which takes all of about 3 minutes and then go write your own blog post!

I used about 4 feet of ribbon per D-ring. Thread the ribbon through the D-ring and tie in place. This will leave you two ends to tie onto whatever you are using to hang the candaliere. I have a wire cylinder I found last year at the Goodwill and a loooooong piece of spline that I have threaded through 2 eye hooks in the porch ceiling so I can raise and lower it to light the candles and blow those suckers out! I might have to invest in a candle snuffer or use Big Boy's young lungs to help a motha out.

Here's the tricky part. If you are using a pulley system like I am, then you need to lower the attachment point to where you want it to sit in relation to the candaliere, just like above.

Attach one ribbon and then attach the opposite ribbon, just like above. This will keep it balanced and even. Now tie the other two ribbons and make sure they are secure. Once I had the ribbons the exact height from the wire cylinder, I knotted them three times.

Now hang it or pull it as is the case here!

This shot gives you an idea of how the pulley system will work. I have the spline end anchored to the railing and when I need to light the candles, I can lower it and then raise it back up to where I want it to sit. I actually have it hung at a height that if I stand on the bed, I can light it and blow the candles out easily so I don't even need to lower it. But it will be handy when I need to replenish the candles or clean it.

I would change a few things if I did this again. If I find a set of metal attachments or something metal that would suffice, I will change the ribbon out. Just want something a little more secure. This isn't heavy at all but I have a growing boy who is apt to hit his head at some point and I don't want a flame to hit the ribbon and kerplunk, there goes the chandy! Yes, I do worry about his head as well, but as anyone who has a 13 year old boy will tell ya', it's a hard head!

It also spins a bit but what the heck, so do I so it fits right in!

We had a terrible thunder storm today and I was at Joann Fabrics during the whole thing.  All I could think of was I bet that candaliere is spinnin' like a top! But she survived with flying colors!

We all have a light inside us to be used for His glory and to spread His love and grace. Enjoy this song by Addison Road that highlights this truth with a very familiar childhood song.

I truly hope you will let “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16

Always being renewed,