Copy Cat

Today I'm admitting to you that I'm a copy cat. Not only that, as crafty as I might seem at times, if the craft doesn't involve hot glue, tape, or my cricut machine, I probably can't copy it.

As I'm prepping for Ellie's birthday party this weekend, I wanted to share one of the smaller details......because it might be small, but I'm SO excited about it!

I copied this directly from The Paper Mama, and I'm not ashamed! She's some kind of genius, I tell you, because I never would have thought of this on my own! Be sure to check out her version here. She gives you the super simple instructions, too.

I present to you, the birthday candle:

This project took all of about 10 minutes, and cost next to nothing (I had all of the supplies except for the candle), but I love the pizzazz that it's going to add to this party! Here's what you do:

1. Take a large number birthday candle, and quickly lay down a layer of hot glue over the top of it. This is just a base layer, you're not adding any jewels to it yet! (as Chelsey explains, you need this layer, otherwise gluing something to the wax candle just isn't going to work). You can cover the whole thing, or leave the colored edges alone if you'd like. I wanted the red to show, so I didn't glue over the border. Also, you must work quickly, and not mess with the glue. I tried to rub it around and make it even, but by doing that I started melting the candle and it could have ended up with weird potholes and stuff.....so just, don't do that ;)

2. After the base layer of glue is good and dry, it's time add another layer of glue, and the jewels! I used red, yellow, and gold. I thought those colors would fit nicely with the Cowboy theme we've got going on. Now again, the only trick here is to work quickly and don't "mess" with the glue too much. Keep it simple.

3. Enjoy your new, snazzy, less-than-$5-total candle ;)

The Paper Mama also linked to what appears to be the original source (and should get the credit for) this wonderful idea! Check out this blog here for another great example of a blinged out birthday candle! I wanted to add this because in this day and age of Pinterest, it's hard to tell who should get credit for an idea.....I do the best I can!