The only thing more romantic than candlelight is candlelight softened by the faint glimmer of enameled glass. This beautiful votive candleholder started life as a yard sale cut glass goblet. A couple of coats of shimmering and glittered nail enamel transformed it into romantic fantasy in soft pearly silver and shimmering turquoise.
If you can paint your nails, you can duplicate this faux stained glass candle holder. I raided my daughter's nail polish collection for this project.
Nail enamels are made to cling to smooth surfaces - like your nails, or crystal. They're ideal for painting on glass. If you add a coat of nail hardener as your finish, the design will withstand washing in anything but the hottest dishwasher cycle.
To duplicate this design, you'll need:
The glass is the perfect size to hold a votive candle. Other glasses that are just right for holding votives include shot glasses and rocks glasses. Painting on glass takes a little practice. At first your results will be streaky and have brushstrokes. Once you get a feel for how much enamel to use and how to flow it on rather than spreading it, you'll be able to create almost anything with nail enamels on glass. Shimmer nail slicks and glitter colors work best for candle holders. Their natural translucence softens the candlelight to a warm, romantic glow.
Once you get the hang of painting on glass, you might try your hand at delicate flowers on chunky whiskey tumblers, or butterflies decorating a champagne flute. With the variety of colors nearly endless, you can let your creativity have free reign.
By Abe
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You don't have to be an artist to create beautiful hand-painted candle holders from inexpensive glass containers.
