Copper Wine Glass Shade

Candles are such a popular home design element today but some of the votive and candle holders on the market fetch staggering amounts of money ~ anywhere from $10.00 up into the hundreds of dollars!!!

In this economy it's wise to look for alternatives and it's also a very "Green" way of thinking! So, that's what I have for you today! A candle holder alternative that is not only environmentally friendly but also friendly on your pocket book as well ;)

Wine glasses come in all shapes and sizes, some plain others ornate, something for everyone taste! If you're a smart (bargain) shopper you can hit places like garage or tag sales, Goodwill, Salvation Army or other resale stores you can find these gems for as little as .50 a piece...sometimes LESS!

Simply place a votive in the glass and if desired you can fill in around the votive to hid the candle. I used the micro glass beads but you could use marbles, sand, or other non-flammable materials.

So now all you need is the shade which is what we will be making today. I am going to be using Streuter's Copper GlueFoil... It's already got a layer of adhesive on the back which is how well will attach the vellum. If you don't have the GlueFoil available, you could use a spray on adhesive of your choice to attach the vellum to the copper.

Copper Wine Glass Shade

(Votive Shade)

Supplies:

Mirkwood Designs Wine Glass Shade

Streuter GlueFoil (copper)

Vellum

Archival Inks

Rubber Stamps (The Enchanted Gallery)

Cut & Dry Nibs

Pop-It Dots (double sided foam tape)

Deco Scissors

Exacto Knife

Paper Piercer

Copper Mini Brads

Optional Supplies:

Eyelets (in desired colors)

Crop-A-Dile Eyelet setter

Stickles Glitter Glue (optional)

Shrink Plastic Charms

Instructions:

1. Print the wine glass shade template and fit to your particular wine glass. Since all wine glasses vary in size and shape, you may need to re-size the template for a proper fit.

2. Iron the vellum to the adhesive side of the copper GlueFoil.

It will look something like this...

3. Trace the template onto the copper and cut out. I like to cut the top and bottom edges using deco scissors. It's not necessary but it just adds an extra little bit to the finished shade.

4. Stamp desired designs onto the shade using Archival Ink. (I used one of the flower shapes from #Roma - 119.)

5. It's time to start cutting various areas of the stamped image to open the shade up to allow light to escape.

The image has 6 petals so I cut every other petal with an Exacto knife as shown...(the copper cuts very easily!)

6. Fold each petal up and out to form an opening...

7. Stamp additional images onto the scrap copper and cut out the smaller inside flower. Color using Archival Ink and Cut & Dry Nibs. Once they were dry I added a dab of Stickles Glitter Glue to the centers of each of the smaller flowers.

8. Attach the extra flowers to the centers of the existing larger flowers using Pop-It Dots (double sided foam tape).

9. It's time to turn your flat shade into a round shade! To begin, fold over 1/8" flap over on one end of the shade...this will be the outside finished edge of the shade as shown here on the finished shade...

Fold Edge...

Poke holes...

Insert Copper Mini Brads....

And you have a shade...

Now you could stop here if you'd like...but of course I like to kick it up a notch or two ;)

I punched holes using my Crop-A-Dile and added anodized metallic eyelets around the bottom edge and hung shrink plastic charms I made using the same flower image. I curled the charms while they were still warm for a bit more interest.

And there you have a really fun and funky wine glass candle holder & shade!

Now, just think of all the variations you could come up with...

by varying the wine glasses and rubber stamps the possibilities are endless!!!

These would not only made great home accent pieces for yourself but they make excellent hostess gifts, birthday gifts and more!!

So now be honest, don't you feel like running out to your local bargain shop to find your own stash of wine glasses???