Glittering Candle Holders for Diwali

Diwali is a festival of lights, diyas and candles light up every doorstep and fireworks light up the night skies. I am feeling very nostalgic this year and missing India, the beautifully decorated markets, television advertisements, street food, late night shopping and saris. 

Diwali cleaning is a very big project (much bigger than spring cleaning), every home is warm and welcoming for visitors. I am still in the process of cleaning and getting rid of all unwanted stuff from my house and it looks like this year I just might achieve my goals! 

Every craft project I do reminds me of the very basic techniques which I learned in school and that is where I get my inspiration from as well. These candle holders are results of applying some wheat paste/ cornflour paste/starch on a balloon and using different materials to form bowl shaped objects. For the small candle holders I used water balloons and latex balloons for the others. Materials for the structure are just anything that glitters, metallic paper confetti, coarse glitter,sequins and fabrics.

Here is how I made the glues-

• wheat paste: just add wheat flour to water and boil them till it becomes smooth paste
• Cornflour paste: Add craft glue, cornflour and water in a bowl. If the paste needs to be thickened add more cornflour or glue to achieve desired consistency.
• Starch: Just add fabric stiffener to boiling water and make a smooth paste

I used cornflour paste for the coarse glitter and confetti candle holders, different paste and materials produce different results so trials are highly recommended. Apply a layer of vaseline or oil to the balloon before applying any of the above pastes. Once my first layer of any material dries up, I add the second layer and so on. If you want just add some newspaper bits after the first layer of glitter or confetti and then finish with glitter or confetti, this will add more body to the candle holder. This will work best if your material is not dense. It will take longer to dry with the newspaper layers (min 24 hours ). I used wheat paste for the metallic paper bowl and starch to make bowls from fabric (jute and silk). Add glitter to the surface of fabrics when wet to give the sparkly effect. Once the candle holders have dried just pop the balloons and remove any bits of balloons from the holder. Trim the edges of these holders to your liking or leave them rough for an abstract shape.. Place tea light or bigger candles in the holders and light them up for Diwali. 

Cornflour paste dries with a white tinge as you can see the image below, while wheat paste and starch dries clear.

Get creative with the materials for the body and you will be rewarded for sure when the balloon pops! I did have some disappointments as well but the overall result was a success. These candle holders are delicate and beautiful, light up any special occasion with these handmade delights.