Holiday Cinnamon Stick Candles

Since I missed out on last week's Dare to DIY party over at Newly Woodwards, I was determined to join in the fun again this week! The theme is homemade gifts--very convenient, since I plan on putting together a few gift baskets this Christmas... a plan that hopefully doesn't turn out to be overly ambitious. To avoid last-minute stress, I tried to get a head start this weekend by making one of the items.

These cinnamon stick candles have been on my growing list of "DIY Projects I Want to Copy" for quite some time, and I thought they'd make a nice addition to a holiday gift basket. The idea is courtesty of the ultimate craft queen herself, Ms. Martha. It seemed easy enough, so I headed out to Hobby Lobby for my supplies.

3" x 6" Pillar Candles - $2.50/ea  (@ 50% off)
Decorative Cinnamon Sticks - $0.98/bag (@ 50% off... in the Christmas section)

Despite the perceived ease of the project, I naturally ran into a snag right away. The hot glue was just melting the candle and wouldn't stick to it (which makes perfect sense, really). After re-reading Martha's instructions, I realized it said to use a low temperature setting to minimize melting. Oh. Apparently my glue gun isn't high-tech enough to have a low temp setting, so I had to figure something else out.

Solution: Wrap a wide piece of ribbon tightly around the candle and glue the overlapped section to secure it. (It should be something pretty, in case it peeks through the sticks when you're done.) Now, I had a surface that my cinnamon sticks would adhere to. After that, it was pretty simple... Run hot glue across the sticks and press them all around the candle! Toward the end it took a little advanced planning to make sure I didn't end up with a gap.

They look good no matter which side of the sticks faces out.

The final touch: Tie a pretty piece of ribbon around the candle, which the recipient can keep on or take off. (I thought of that without Martha's help, thankyouverymuch.) Raffia or even jute would also look nice if you're going for a more natural vibe.

This really was an easy (and thrifty) project, just a little time-consuming. And because of the cinnamon sticks, the candles smell good even when they're not lit. I plan on making a few more, and probably one for myself! If you do try making these, I found that one bag of the small cinnamon sticks from Hobby Lobby is almost enough to cover an entire 3" diameter candle.   However, if you're planning on making a lot of these (or any cinnamon stick craft for that matter), it might be more cost-effective to get your cinnamon sticks in bulk:

Dualspices Cinnamon Sticks 2 Pounds ~ 100 to 150 Sticks 3 Inches Length Cassia Cinnamon

What kind of homemade gifts do you like to make (or receive)? If you want even more ideas, be sure to check out Kim's Dare to DIY party!

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