Candle Creatures

Create a fun Candle Creature to add to your Halloween Decorations.

The one on the left I created. My children (ages 11 and 12) created the other two.

One ½ “ pvc pipe.

A glue gun and several glue sticks.

LED tea light.

A plastic container lid.

Take apart the LED tea light. Save the LED (be careful with the connectors on the bulb), the rubber “flame” cover, and the top of the tea light with the hole.

Carefully cut away the tea light top with the hole and make it the size of the top of the candle (pvc pipe).

Cut the pvc pipe to the desired length. The ones shown are about 12” long. Sand the pvc to remove any markings and to allow the hot glue to stick better.

Cut a groove in the top to hold the battery from the LED tea light. Make the groove about 1” down. My battery from the LED tea light is a CR2032 and it rests nicely in the groove. Adjust the height of the battery so that the connectors of the LED bulb can reach the battery to make it light up.

Assemble the tea light top, rubber “flame” and LED bulb. Test the LED light by putting it in the battery end of the candle. The connectors of the bulb need to have the correct flow of polarity. You may have to turn the bulb around to make it work. To turn it off, you just pull the bulb assembly out.

Note: you can get more sophisticated with your design and wire in a switch, motion sensor, and or anything else. I am trying to keep it simple and easy. If you were to make this different, now is the time to add such things.

Now for the fun, add a face with hot glue. By using gravity you can prevent the glue from going flat. Layers are also great for building up your designs. Let the glue cool in between your layers.

Make arms, hands, feet and objects by gluing them onto a piece of plastic. Peal them off when they are cool. Once they are off the lid you can add more glue to make them thicker.

When you have them looking that way you want, glue them onto your Candle Creature.

When you are done you can choose to spray paint the entire Candle Creature and then add beads for eyes.

Variation: Use glow in the dark hot glue sticks to create the face. Hang the Candles with fishing line to make them look like they are floating.