Whether you are creating a cozy or spooky ambiance for your home or theater production, these simple DIY glowing candle props fit the bill. The first prop candle is sIim and created to fit most standard taper candle bases. The second is a chunkier version best suited for flat surfaces. Both candles “come to life” without batteries or electricity when placed under a black or blue light.
Creating a Chunky, Dripping, Prop Candle
I find the best base for a chunky prop candle is a small section of PVC pipe or a similar cylinder. I’m sure you could alternatively use a toilet paper or paper towel roll painted with matt paint. For even larger candles, you could cut a white shampoo bottle to your desired height and lightly sand it. Now, begin placing small verticle drops of hot glue all around the outside of your prop candle. You don’t have to be too careful in the glue placement. Think of how a real candle melts. It will have varying lengths and thicknesses of wax accumulated after burning for an extended time.
Creating the Body of the Prop Candle
Continue adding layers of “dripping wax” using your hot glue gun. Again, to make the glowing candle prop appear more realistic, don’t be precise with the placement of the hot glue lines. Add as many layers of hot glue as you like until the candle takes on your desired effect. My candles are for my Pirates of the
Caribbean-themed game room area. I wanted them to appear as though they had been burning far longer than they should. It took several layers of hot glue to achieve my desired effect. The last few drips of hot glue should be shorter than all the previous ones. I found holding the glue gun stationary and squeezing the trigger worked best toward the end. This causes the hot glue to pool at the top of the prop candle and drip naturally with gravity just as real wax does.
How to Make Prop Candles Glow
To make your prop candles magically glow you will need a broken or burnt-out LED light bulb. You can use a new one, but that raises your cost per candle substantially. Inside the LED bulb, you will see a filament that looks like a tiny orange candelabra. It is pretty realistic when used as such in a small-scale diorama or dollhouse! Use proper safety equipment such as safety goggles and gloves before attempting to retrieve the filaments. My bulb was broken so I carefully snipped off a piece of filament with utility scissors. The filaments are pretty soft and flexible. There may be a fine wire inside but this is easily severed by scissors.
Applying the Glowing Wick to the Prop Candle
Cut off the filament to the size you want your flame to be allowing some exess to stick inside the candle. I trimmed mine off to about a quarter of an inch. Next, add a drop of hot glue to the very top center of your prop candle. Hold your trimmed filament into the glue and hold it upright until the glue hardens. Now place your glowing candle prop under or near a black or blue light. The orange filament begins glowing like a real flame!
Making a Slim Taper-Like Prop Candle
I chose to begin my candle using an old-fashioned clothespin for structure. If you don’t have any available, you can substitute a piece of dowel rod or another short round wooden piece. I bet a small twig or branch broken from a tree and dried out would work just fine.
Molding the Candle Base
To give the candle a good solid base I filled a thrift store porcelain candle holder with hot glue. While the glue was still hot and liquified I held the tip of my clothespin straight up, fully submerged in the glue until it hardened. It released well since it already had a thin candle wax residue coating the inside. If using a new or unused candle holder base, I would place a candle in it and turn it a few times before filling it with hot glue. Once removed, the prop candle base is a good universal size to insert into any candle holder
Forming the Realistic Taper Candle
Next, add multiple layers of hot glue allowing the outermost layers to drip freely at varying lengths. To add a magical glow under black or blue light, clip a piece of led filament from a broken or burnt-out lightbulb. Add a dab of hot glue to the center of your candle top. Hold the filament in place until the glue firms up. Place your slip prop candle into a candle holder under a black or blue light and watch it come to life. No electricity or batteries are necessary!
More Magical DIY
Be sure to bookmark this page for even more Disney-inspired Magical DIY Projects. Be my guest at the Sawdust and Cornbread YouTube channel for inspiration and helpful videos. Until next time, think of the happiest things, it’s the same as having wings.
~Lora Lea
