Make sand or glitter covered candles

Add some texture and sparkle to your candles using sand or glitter.

Photo Credit: Pamela Hodson
By Heleigh Bostwick

Make Sand Or Glitter Covered Candles

Decorating candles is a fun arts and crafts project. There are many options for jazzing up your candles, but if you want to add an earthy feel or some texture or sparkle to your candles, try covering them with sand or glitter.

To get started, buy or make a candle. Pillar candles and votives work well for this type of decoration. Pillar candles are usually round, square, or triangular in shape and at least 3 inches in diameter. Votives are small candles about 2 inches in diameter. Use candles with a smooth surface, as opposed to beeswax candles that have an uneven honeycomb textured surface.

Just about any color will do—it depends on the look you’re after. When covering candles with sand, you might want to use earth colors, when covering candles with glitter you might opt for something flashier. For example, use a red or dark green candle and gold glitter at Christmas time or a white candle with silver glitter for a wedding.

Before you get started, always have a fire extinguisher and baking soda ready in case of fire. Never leave melting wax unattended for even one minute as it easily catches fire if the temperature gets too hot.

Sand Covered Candles

First, fill a bucket or shallow roasting pan with clean, dry sand–the kind you would use for a sandbox, or that you would buy at the craft store. Do not use beach sand as it contains bits of dried seaweed, shells, and plain old dirt that will smear into the wax.

Next, melt a pound of clear paraffin wax in a large pot or double boiler. When the wax has melted, remove it from the heat. Using a pair of tongs, dip the candle into the melted wax or paint it with the hot wax, using a synthetic bristle brush.

The easiest method of covering the candle with sand is to place the candle either in the bucket of sand or roll it in the shallow pan. Gently shake the candle to remove excess sand. The bucket works well for short, squat candles, while the roasting pan works well for votives that can be grasped with a pair of tongs and easily rolled around.

Glitter Covered Candles

When covering a candle with glitter, the easiest method is to use glitter glue, although regular glitter works fine as well. One advantage of glitter glue is that you can use it directly on the candle without using any additional wax. With a bit of practice, it is easier to make designs such as loops, bows, swirls, garlands, and swags. Regular glitter works better for covering the entire candle.

If you use loose glitter, sprinkle a layer of glitter on a piece of wax paper. The first method of applying glitter to a candle is to paint the candle in melted paraffin wax and then roll it in the glitter. Roll the candle on another piece of wax paper (without glitter) and let the wax harden for 24 hours.

Alternatively, you can dip the candle into a pot of melted wax and then roll it around on the wax paper covered with glitter. Or, simply sprinkle the glitter on the candle. Keep sprinkling the glitter covers the entire surface. Roll the candle on a piece of wax paper to set the glitter and let the wax harden for 24 hours.