Scented Candle in a Vintage Chintz Cup and Saucer

This craft idea was sparked off after a shopping trip to Marlborough, where I saw some beautiful cup and saucer candles. They were very sweet but rather pricey, and I knew I could make cup and saucer candles at a fraction of the price.

I do love candles, and I usually buy scented candles. So I thought that if I was making cup and saucer candles that I would make scented cup and saucer candles. I also love a bit of Chintz, so I set out looking for Chintz style cup and saucers to make my candles in.

To make a cup and saucer candle you will need…

Cups and Saucers, or just cups is fine too,
White wax beads,
Essential oils for fragrance,
Wax dye flakes,
Wick,
Wooden skewers,
Ribbon and flowers to decorate,


The best place to find odd cups and saucers for this craft is car boots, garden fates and charity shops. Choose cups and saucers that you think are pretty. Take them home and give them a good wash and allow them to dry completely.

Put the wax beads in a glass jug, stood in half a pan of boiling water as if you were melting chocolate. Don’t allow the water to bubble over the sides of the jug and contaminate the wax. The wax does take a while to melt so whilst it is on the hob, turn your attention to setting up the cups.

Set out the cups and saucers, and add one or two wax dye flakes to each cup; this will give your candle a pail pastel shade that is in keeping with the chintz look.

Next you need to add a couple of drops of essential oils to the cup.

Cut a length of wick that is twice the height of the cup and fold it in half. In the loop that is created, push the skewer through and then turn the skewer around to twist the wick. Lay the skewer across the cup so that the wick is suspended in the centre of the cup.

When the wax is melted, pour a small amount of wax into the cup and with a spare skewer, give the wax in the cup a stir to melt and mix the dye and the essential oil. Then top up the cup with wax slowly as to not disturb the wick. If your cup has a pattern on the inside at the top, make the top of the candle just reach below the pattern so that it is still visible.

Finnish filling all the cups in this way with the melted wax and then set the candles to one side to cool and set.

To finish off, tie a slim ribbon on the handle of the cup or around the bowl of the cup to decorate. If you are making the cup and saucer candle as a gift, you could write a special message on a brown card luggage label and tie that to the cups handle.

Perfect Valentines :: Tea Cosy Folk :: Santas Postbag::Halloween Mania :: Swindon Flowers ::Zafyna

Father's Day Cufflinks

Creating Beautiful Cufflinks for that very Special Dad

There are so many different designs and ideas that you could use to make your Dad a very special Father's Day Present!!

To create a base for the cufflinks you will need to roll out the Clay to an even thickness or at least one side of the base should be flat. This will ensure that you have a suitable surface to attach the cufflink backs too.

I normally find that a 1.5mm thickness provides enough weight and substance for a cufflink. If you want to create a textured surface then remember to place the spacers on the texture sheet before rolling out the clay. Once the clay has been rolled out, cut out the shape of the cufflink, by using mini cookie cutters or a craft knife. Place cut out pieces on a flat ceramic tile.

You can now add embellishments to the cufflinks with either rubber stamps, man made stones, Art Clay Syringe, etc. For the Cufflinks in the first picture above, I created a shape from Cork Clay which I then dried overnight. Once dry I placed this on to the square rolled out piece of clay and syringed around the Cork Clay, ensuring that it was attached on all sides to the piece of clay. When it was fired the cork clay burnt away leaving a hollow filigree like structure on the base. In the second picture I used rubber stamps and in the 3rd one I used a texture mat.
Once you are satisfied with the cufflinks, dry them thoroughly. Generally I find it best to do this in the oven at about 150 to 180 degrees C for about 30 minutes.

Allow to cool and using your sanding pads, ensure that there are no sharp edges or scratches. If you are using Sterling Silver Cufflink backs, you can add them now with a little bit of Art Clay Paste. Dry again with a hair dryer for a few minutes before firing.

The cufflinks can now be fired, using a gas hob, blow torch or kiln. Remember if you have used Cork Clay it must be fired in a kiln.

Once fired, allow to cool slightly and quench in some cold water. Using your Stainless Steel Brush, brush your fired Cufflinks to expose the beautiful silver. If you have attached the cufflink backs prior to firing you may notice fire scale on them. This can easily be removed by dipping the Cufflinks in a “pickle” solution or by filing away with a little bit of fine emery paper. If you haven't add the backs before firing, then you can either solder them on now or glue them on with a 2 part epoxy resin.

Depending on the finish you want, you can now burnish the Cufflinks or polish them up to a mirror finish with the sanding pads or oxidise them with a Liver of Sulphur Solution.

Add on the Cufflink bars and polish with a soft cloth. The cufflinks are now ready for that very special “Dad” to wear.

Your imagination is the only limitation for design ideas. He will love anything that you make as it is such a very special present.

More Art Cay Projects can be found at http://www.artclaysupplies.co.uk/art-clay-monthly-project-page.shtml

How to make a special memories album

A special memories album is an ideal Christmas, birthday, anniversary, wedding or christening gift because it is a collection of special memories. The album could include photos, poems, certificates, concert tickets, and newspaper clippings, scraps of fabric or anything else that holds sentimental value. It could be a kind of “This is our life” album.

This special gift is easy to make, all you need is…
Glue, double sided sticky tape, ribbon, a hole punch, memories and contents and some multicoloured thin card (ring binder dividers are cheap and ideal, just cut of the holes and tabs).

Cut the sheets of card to the size you want the album to be.

Choose a coloured card for the front and back cover. The front and back covers need to be double thickness card to give the finished album some rigidity. Stick two sheets of card together, one on top of the other for the front cover and do the same for the back. Set to one side to dry.

The front cover will need a title of sorts, you could name it “Special memories album” or “An album for Mum” or “Grandad – This is your life”. You could create a title page on a computer with images and a decorative font and print it out and glue it to the front cover of the album. Alternatively you could paint or draw the title. You could cut out flowers from some wrapping paper to make a small collage to decorate the front of the album.

On the front of the front cover rule a pencil line 3cm in form the spine edge of the album. With a pair of scissors score this line, so that the front cover will open with ease.

Sticking in your memories…
Cut some strips of card, 1cm wide on assorted colours.

Take one strip of card and a piece of card and lay the strips diagonally over one of the corners and fold the excess strip behind the sheet of card to form a triangle. Remove the triangle from the sheet of card and trim away the excess strip of card. These are the “Photo corners mounts”. Make a set of four (one to fit each corner of a photo or document). Put some double sided sticky tape on the back of each photo corner mount and stick the memories into place in the album.

Between the memories can be decorated with stickers or more wrapping paper decoupage to form some continuity throughout the album.

When your album pages are complete you need to mark the centre along the spine edge of each page and also the front and back covers. This mark is used as a guide for the hole-punch to ensure all the holes are central. Hole-punch each page.

Put all the pages in order and thread the ribbon through the holes to tie the pages together, making sure the ribbon ends are at the front of the album. Tie a knot in the ribbon ends and then tie a bow for a decorative finish.


More of S. Roberts crafty gift ideas can be found at http://busy-crafting.blogspot.com/. For Christmas crafts visit http://www.santaspostbag.co.uk/ where you can also send a free letter to your child from Santa Claus. SantasPostbag is in association with http://www.bigboystoyz.com together keeping Christmas Magical.