Dollar Store Fall Candles

One sunny Autumn afternoon a few years ago I was driving the kids home from school and I had a talk with them about trees.  Yep…trees.  The kids thought I was losing it, and maybe I was a little, but hopefully the “tree talk” will stay with them for a long time.  You see, I happen to be extremely fascinated by trees.  I’m not referring to, “Oh that’s a beautiful Oak you have, Frank!” kind of tree obsession.  It’s deeper than that, Frank.  When I look at a tree I see more than just a beautiful extension of Earth.  For me, trees symbolize the passage of time.  Have you ever thought about them that way?  Time passage is a concept that none of us can truly grasp, or stop, so for this reason trees mesmerize me even more.

One recent example of this preoccupation with trees was when my oldest daughter showed me a recent photo of one of our old houses in Florida.  We had planted a palm tree in the front yard and moved out about 5 years later.  Well, after 15 years that little palm tree is now absolutely enormous and it literally took my breath away when I saw it.  It was tangible evidence that a lot of time had passed by and it just didn’t seem possible.  It was kind of scary, to tell you the truth.

So, here we are…at the beginning of Fall anticipating the gorgeous Fall foliage soon to explode in our front yards just like last year, the year before that, and the year before that.  There the trees go again proving my point.  The next time you look at a tree, I hope you remember our tree talk.

Welcome to my “Dollar Store Fall Candles” of which I created while feeling extra crafty one night.

Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing when I drew these colorful Fall trees on these dollar store candles 😯 .  I really didn’t have a plan, and just sat down and started drawing on the candles.  I had seen people use permanent marker on ceramic plates, mugs, etc. so I knew it would work.  However, I’m not much of an artist when it comes to drawing things.  Little did I know that I can draw leaf-less trees, ha!

The more tree(s) I drew, the more excited I became.  You really can’t do it wrong.  I started with 2 vertical lines as the trunk, and then colored it in.  Then I added the roots at the bottom so they looked kind of wiggly and spooky.  Then I [literally] branched out and added thick branches, thin branches, and very thin branches.  The more I did, the easier it became.  It was very relaxing, too.  At one point I ran out of tree shape ideas, so I Googled “dead tree images” and millions of dead trees popped up.

When I was satisfied with the tree, I dabbed on acrylic paint with a tiny paint brush for the leaves.  Some of the undried marker mixed in with the paint when I was dabbing it on, so it created the black parts in the leaves which really looked cool.  Or should I say, “HOT.”

I didn’t want to use all the same traditional Fall colors, so I ended up with a rainbow of sorts.  I think these cozy colorful “Dollar Store Fall Candles” compliment my ombre pumpkin mantle quite nicely.  The purple candle really brings out the colors in the rug, eek!

I had no idea drawing trees was so simple.  You have got to try this.  I bet kids would LOVE it, too.

FALL FOLIAGE TREE CANDLE TUTORIAL

1. Supplies: white candle, permanent black marker, tiny paint brush, acrylic paint, plastic cup with water, paper plate, paper towels.  If your dollar store doesn’t have these candles, I found them on line here: WHITE CANDLES.
2. Peel the sticker off the candle after warming it up with blow dryer.  Or use rubbing alcohol to get stickiness off.
3. Google “Dead Tree Images” and you will have plenty of inspiration, or copy mine 😎 .
4. Draw your trunk first with 2 vertical lines and fill in.
5. Draw the roots next making them wiggly and long if desired.
6. Draw your thick branches out from the trunk.
7. Draw your thin branches off of the thick.
8. Draw tiny branches in to really make them look realistic.
9. Pour the paint you plan on using onto a paper plate in little puddles.
10. Dab your leaves on quickly.  Don’t give it too much thought.  Go random.
11. Let the candles dry over night & enjoy.  They would be a nice gift, too.

Wait, there’s more dollar store decor here…

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