Save Your Empty Vinyl Rolls and Make Spooky Faux Candles

Carol
by Carol
5 Materials
2 Hours
Medium

As a Maker, sometimes I save things without knowing why. Such was the case with empty vinyl rolls. Follow along in this post to see what I did with them! The best part of this project? The cost! $0.

Gather Your Supplies


I gathered my empty vinyl rolls, glue gun and glue sticks, paints and Rub n Buff.

Step 2: Make Your Candle "Drips"


Go around the top of the roll with hot glue and drizzle randomly down the sides. Make your "candles" as drippy as you like. No rules!

Step 3: Paint


Once the hot glue is dry, paint with acrylic paint ( I used Craftsmart from Michaels in white). You can do as many coats as you like. I did two.

Step 4: Dry Brush


I did want these to look old and haunted so I dry brushed some black and a little silver. I didn't care about the residual grooves in the craft rolls because I just went with them adding depth and character!

Step 5: Accent With Rub n Buff


As with the Upcycled Candleholders I shared in a separate post, I accented some of the wax drips with Antique Gold Rub n Buff just to make them more dimensional.

Step 6: (Optional)


I was playing around and figure out that the candle from a tea light fight perfectly inside some of the vinyl rolls. I won't burn these of course but it adds to the authenticity of the look I think.

Step 7: Display!


NOTE: While you can use empty paper towel rolls I liked the density of the craft rolls.

Resources for this project:
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Carol
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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  2 questions
  • Lilith Lilith on Oct 08, 2020

    What are Vinyl rolls? googled it, nothing.

  • Donna Donna on Oct 09, 2023

    How about using battery-operated tea lights instead of real ones? Some of the battery types look fairly authentic, better than just sitting a wax tea light on top and definitely not being able to actually light it.

Comments
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3 of 16 comments
  • Leigh Leigh on Oct 09, 2021

    I could see doing something similar for making giant Christmas candles for the porch, steps, or sidewalk.... in Christmas colors of course. Thanks for the inspiration!

  • Dl.5660408 Dl.5660408 on Oct 09, 2021

    Nifty idea!

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