Directions for making candle holders for those itty bitty taper candles.

These are made of polymer clay that has been baked and painted. Personally I don't let my candles burn all the way down just in case, but I suppose if you're leery of the paint you could of course just use colored clay to begin with. Use em at your own risk.

For candle tips go to The National Candle Association's Fire Safety Tips

Step 1: In the Begining, Hehe

Take a clay roller, a cutter, and something to poke the clay with (I used a pen) and roughly 1 ounce of polymer clay (your choice as to what it looks like but mine was scrap since I wanted to use it up and I am going to be painting it)

Step 2: Cut and Roll

Cut into two equal pieces or as close as you can get, I mean honestly this is not rocket science, it does not have to be perfect and I should probably let you know right here in the beginning that I am a rather unfettered person and that includes in how I craft. Just let things flow and viola, they somehow turn out as something :-)

Roll out pieces to somewhere in between 1/4 and 1/2 inch.

Step 3: Squish and Twist

Make candle space by gently shoving the candle into the clay (I used a bit of a slight twisting motion) and make sure that it is pretty deep so that the candle will hold in later.

Step 4: Shape and Bake

Shape pieces and make some kind of mark on holder, you can see I did a little swirl on each of mine, but you can do what you want or leave it blank.

Follow clay package directions and bake til done.

Step 5: Decorate

Paint: solid color first, in this case I used some el cheap-oh blue paint. After base is dry, use pen to dip in contrasting paint bottle and use as a paintbrush of sorts to get inside the design. Take dab of contrasting paint on finger and dab around a bit, I had tried using a paper towel piece but did not like the results much, I found my finger worked better.

And Viola! Mini Taper Candle Holders! If your candles will not stay standing you can melt a bit of the wax from the bottom to make it stay up straight.