Turn Cheap Candles Into Luxury Looking Gifts | 5 Easy DIY Ideas

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More Crafts/DIY

Let’s get crafty with these easy DIY Christmas candle gift ideas.

anthropologie inspired bottle brush tree candles

Love gifting candles? Here’s some fun inspiration! 

I love candles! I enjoy burning them at home, and since they make thoughtful, all-occasion gifts, I also stock up throughout the year. We feature awesome candle deals on Hip2Save often, so I’m thinking you may have a stockpile as I do!

I’ve rounded up several ways to “dress up” a candle to package it as a nice, festive holiday gift! Putting a little extra effort into the presentation will turn ordinary candles into something a little more special.

diy anthropologie dupe candle supplies

Where’s the best place to buy candles?

If there’s a candle sale at Bath & Body Works, I’m there – both in-store and online! I can also be found in the aisles of TJ Maxx and Marshall’s smelling all the beautiful discounted candles. This week Walgreens had a nice sale on candles, so I was able to scoop up three 18 oz. jars for under $12!

removing candle labels

Removing labels & price tags

While I simply turned the candle jar around to hide the label for some of these examples, they can be removed completely with a couple of easy steps.

If I have the time, I suggest soaking the outside of the candle in hot soapy water. Then you can usually scrub the label off with a scrubbing sponge and dish soap. For stubborn labels, I keep a bottle of Goo Gone on hand, and that stuff works great!

Hip Tip: Have empty candle jars? Here’s how to re-purpose them!

bottle brush tree candles from Anthropologie

Bottle tree brushes are still trendy this year, and I love this look!

Anthropologie has such pretty bottle brush tree candles. They are my inspiration for how I am embellishing candles to gift this season. Luckily my DIY version is much less expensive and easy to pull off by using hot glue to attach mini bottle brush trees. I also added some white glitter and faux snow to the top, but that is definitely optional!

I noticed so many retailers now carry various colors of bottle brush trees this year including Target, Walmart, Michaels, Dollar Tree, and online on Amazon.com.

anthro inspired copycat cottle brush tree candles

Watch me make one here on Instagram


DIY Candle Gift Ideas

Print

Directions

1

DIY Bottle Brush Tree Candle 

  1. Remove the label.
  2. Apply Mod Podge or white glue to the lid. Add white glitter and faux snow. Let dry.
  3. Use hot glue to apply mini bottle brush trees.
  4. Add a bow with velvet ribbon if desired.

2

Easy DIY Twine Candle

  1. Remove the label if desired. I left it and thought it looked fine (just personal preference).
  2. Use hot glue to adhere the twine around the candle. Make sure to glue tight enough between rows, so it looks nice and even.

3

DIY Reindeer Candle

  1. Arrange a few brown chenille stems (or pipe cleaners) into an antler shape. Hot glue or tape them to the top of the candle.
  2. Glue a red pom pom as a nose to the front of the candle, and add a gift tag.

4

DIY Snowman Candle

  1. Glue three buttons in a row vertically using hot glue.
  2. Tie yarn, ribbon, or fabric strips around the candle as a “scarf”. P.S. My candy cane yarn is a Marshall’s find!
  3. Glue jumbo craft poms to both ends of a strip of cardstock paper and then glue it to the lid sides of the candle as “earmuffs”.

5

Easy Cellophane Wrap

  1. Wrap a candle with clear cellophane and add a touch of greenery or bow.

adding faux snow to candle lid

hot gluing trees to candle lid

DIY bottle brush tree candles

easy diy christmas candle gift ideas – Adding twine

easy diy christmas candle gift ideas – Finished rope candle

 Adding reindeer antlers

Reindeer candle closeup

snowman candle

snowman candle with earmuffs

cellophane wrapping example

4 candles on display

How FESTIVE & ADORABLE are these candles?

These easy Christmas candle gift ideas are such a cute way to turn an ordinary candle into something a bit more exciting! Get the kids involved and have them make one for their teacher as an example.

You can even use fabric or pretty tissue paper instead for wrapping them up, or adding a fun Christmas ornament on top would be so cute, too!

candle next to christmas decor

Make some for yourself too! I love the bottle brush candle idea to decorate the home for the holidays. It can easily be incorporated into your Christmas decor to enjoy.


Check out our DIY Pomander Balls for another easy Christmas craft!


About the writer:

Lina has a Bachelor's Degree from Northern Arizona University with 11 years of blogging and photography experience having work featured in Today.com, Martha Stewart, Country Living, Fox News, Buzzfeed, and HGTV.


Join The Discussion

Comments 16

  1. babymair

    Thx Lina , as always a cute idea my boys can make .This will help make Christmas break a little easier. Keep up the good work and God bless

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Aw thanks you’re always so kind! ❤️ I appreciate it.

  2. ShellyShel

    these are adorable… perfect craft night with the kiddos or wine night with the girls!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      YES!! I agree- so fun 👍 Thanks for stopping by!

  3. Susan Crawford

    I like the snowman candle idea the best.

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh thanks Susan!

  4. Ashley Marie

    Thank you for this Wonderful Post! This is a Spectacular Gift Idea for Teacher Gifts!! My sister works as a Teacher and has been trying to think of a creative and thoughtful gift to provide to the principal, teachers and staff at her school! This will be perfect to make at home with her and she can give them these presents at their annual holiday Christmas staff party in December right before Christmas break! She loves the school and wanted to show them this Christmas how much she appreciates everyone there and this is a great way!! Thank you, you saved the day!! We can do this together! She will be so happy!! I hope that the Hip2Save Team have the most magnificent and joyful day!!!!!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh yay! This so sweet. We appreciate your sweet comment and have fun with this project!

  5. MaaMaaBear

    Did you buy the greenery as is or did you bend it and glue the red berries? I love it!!!!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Thanks yes it’s the bendy kind I think I picked it up in the dollar spot at Target last year. Cut, wrapped in a circle, glued berries. THANKS ❤️

  6. *Angela-Miles*

    The reindeer and snowman are super cute!! I enjoyed this post. I normally buy the little magnetic decorations at bath and body works to put on my candles when I gift them. They are under $5 and make the candle so cute! I may or may not have bought a whole stash when they were on clearance haha. I’ll make this snowman candle this year for a few, thanks 🙂

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh that’s a fun idea – I haven’t seen those! Thanks for sharing ❤️ I agree the snowman is extra cute!

  7. Tara

    OMG. Love this post!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Ahh thanks so much Tara! ❤️

  8. markiesluv

    SUPER CUTE!!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Yay thanks so much!

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