312. Marbled Candle Stars

Today, two of my friends came by and we marbleised some candles. ('Some' here meaning 'rather a lot'.)

I put some star-shaped stickers on two of mine before dumping them into the coloured water:

The only two clear results.

 
Some of the stickers also looked quite interesting afterwards:

 

And - just because it looked so hilarious - this is how we dried the long, thin candles:

270. Wine Corks Star

I went to a cozy little wine bar tonight with some friends who - just before we left - encouraged me to use some of the decoration for a star: There was this huge glass filled with bottle corks in the window and we put together this little shining ensemble:

191. Candle Carving

Thursday, 2012-03-15:

Just a little carving in the side of a candle which I got for my birthday:

187. Birthday Stars

While I'm in exile, my wonderful friends back home sent me a parcel with lots of beautiful presents. Among those a Jar of Cake, including seven candles as seven stars - one for each of them:

These count as "made" since I stuck the candles into the cake an lit them (which proved to be rather a challenge^^).

Here are some more starry things I got for my birthday:

 soap, biscuits, a card, and a children's book :)

 daffodils from my wonderful flatmate and fellow intern at the clinic

an e-card from my dad

... plus a lot of starlight wishes from many people which made me feel so wonderful! :)

181. Candle-and-Tissue Star

Okay, here's the first time I actually worked ahead. I made this star yesterday already when we were out eating pizza, and I made nothing today:

Just a candle in a bottle with some tissue wrapped around it.

Lots of tissues and paper napkins lately...

156. Milkshake-Candle Star

Here's a quick one from tonight: Candle shining through glass with milkshake remnants.

110. Ice Lantern

A very happy and blessed Christmas!

 Let the light grow...

 And let some of the ice in the world melt...

Just not the polar ice caps, please!^^

101. Star-Shaped Table Lantern

Yet another table lantern that had me wondering for a long time how it was made. I looked for instructions yesterday, found them, and now here it is:

It turned out a little dark because I coloured the paper in (mostly blue) watercolours. I think oiled paper would be a good option here, too.

I used the (German) instructions from this website and since I was rather in a hurry didn't make any myself.

94. Table Lantern With Stars

Yay, finally a star I'm happy with again! I had often wondered how these round table lanterns are made that basically consist of lots of pantagons with five-pointes stars on them. Now I know:

It's such a beautiful effect and amazingly simple to make:

You need glue, a ruler, and 11 pentagon-shaped pieces of paper (mine had a side length of 5 cm which is the minimum if you want to put a candle inside):

Take one pentagon and mark the middle of each of the five sides, then fold the corners along the lines like this:

 

(Do the same with the other 10 pieces.)

Use one piece as bottom and glue a second one to it by alining the folds on one side and gluing the overlapping little triangles to the centerpiece of the other paper (one inside, one outside):

Continue until you have five pentagons around the bottom. Then glue those to each other using the triangles again:

 

Make a second row just like the first one with the remaining five pieces. The triangles still standing up at the top are then each glued to the insides of their own piece:

Light a tealight, place inside and enjoy! :)

82. Advent Wreath Star

I was quite excited about this one - yet another experience I haven't made before: I made my very own Advent wreath. And since I'm slightly overambitious, I couldn't just decorate it with stars, no! It had to be shaped like a star itself. I'm not conviced that it's a good idea to make any other shape than an actual wreath if you have never done this before... But, oh well, I couldn't help myself. So, here's my Advent star, complete with decoration and four candles:

It's a bit of a challenge at the moment to be satified with anything I do, but I think I can accept this result and keep it on my table until Christmas. :)

P.S.: I know it's a little late, but I left the house at 8:45 this morning and just returned about 20 minutes ago, having spent a fabulous night with a rather large round of people playing 'Werwolves' - a party game elsewhere called Mafia, Assassins or Witch Hunt. I had never played it with that many special characters and it was so much fun! I can't wait for the next opportunity! :D

75. Carved Candle Star

Mama, I wish you a wonderful and truly happy birthday!

I carved this candle using a large kitchen knife. It was easier than I thought to get the lines straight. However, at some point I realised that one careless cut could destroy the whole work... That's when I got nervous. But I was lucky: One careless cut did happen but it didn't hack off the star's spike as it could have. The star got away with only a scar and a little dent.

Ich denk an dich. :)

65. Glass Bottle Star

Hello everyone over at Romy's! - In case you crazy people are acutally reading this tonight... ;) Here's our star made of the bottles we emptied tonight at - yet another! - birthday party:

 

The feet were originally put there to stabilise the bottles which kept rolling around on the uneven floor. But I decided they should count as additional points of the star - extra long rays of starlight...^^

Thanks for your enthusiasm in helping me! - And have a safe journey home. :)

23. Lighting up the Night

It took a while for today's project to grow and take shape. Over the past few days several things came together which eventually gave me a very clear idea of how I wanted to do this. So, here they are: 151 candles - every one of them lit for somebody.

I thought of many different things I could say to explain this. In the end, I decided to let somebody else speak (or rather sing) for me - and for everyone else.

'May it be an evening star shines down upon you.

May it be when darkness falls your heart will be true.

You walk a lonely road.

Oh, how far you are from home.

Mornië utúlië. [Darkness has come.]

Believe and you will find your way.

Mornië alantië [Darkness has fallen.]

A promise lives within you now.

May it be the shadow's call will fly away.

May it be you journey on to light the day.

When the night is overcome,

You may rise to find the sun.

Mornië utúlië. [Darkness has come.]

Believe and you will find your way.

Mornië alantië [Darkness has fallen.]

A promise lives within you now.

A promise lives within you now.'

(enya)

 

I had a very special night, and I'm lacking words to describe it (in any language that I know).

But to you who are reading this: You may be sure there's a candle in there for you, too.

Love,

Lena

(P.S.: Just for me and for completeness:)