Tips From Stitchers:

Irene wrote in with an alternative way of attaching the embroidery: Use a heat gun to slightly soften the wax on the side of the candle (a hair dryer would work for this, too), and push the organza or tulle into the surface to hide it. Be careful -- the wax melts quickly! "It works beautifully on any candle except the ones that have just a layer of color on the outside," she writes.

Yvonne also wrote in with a great tip for attaching the embroidery. She writes, "I embroidered on tulle and cut around it as close as I could. Then I put Pritt Stick on the back of the embroidery, attached it to the candle, and warmed it with a hair dryer. After a minute it will stick and it is done. No pins, or anything! I just held it in my hand until it was cold. My candle has been standing for 3 weeks now and still looks great!"

Kathy likes to burn down the candle about 1/3 of the way, clip the wick, and place a battery-operated tea light inside, so the candle can have a gentle glow and last forever.

Emma wrote in with a great tip for a decorative touch. She embroidered lace snowflakes and attached them to the candle using little short pins with the colored heads. She writes, "I put some with a different color pin on each point and some with all the same. They make such nice gifts and anyone that I have given them to are so thrilled to get them."

Marilyn shared a unique tip for decorating her candles. The candle she used wasn't wax on the outside. It burns on the inside but the outer layer doesn't melt. Marilyn made a freestanding lace angel using metallic thread. Then, she applied E-6000 glue to the back of the embroidery and glued it to the candle. Marilyn mentioned, "I held it place to make sure it was stuck on good and then let it dry. The next day it was dry and completely glued onto the candle."

Diane found a great way to use scented candles. She embroidered a lace snowflake on tulle, then warmed the finished lace piece with an iron, stuck it on the candle, and rolled the candle to press it into the surface. Diane also mentioned, "Make sure to check how much heat your fabric will take. It's hard to get your embroidery hot enough, I ended up touching my iron right onto the candle very carefully so no wax got on my iron."

Meganne also wrote in with a great tip for decorating scented candles. She writes, "After many attempts to attach an embroidery design to a scented candle, I finally succeeded using Mod Podge. Using a brush, I covered the whole back of the design and used pins to hold it in place. I then brushed another layer of Mod Podge over the surface of the design. A word of advice, be careful if using pins to hold the design in place as the pins I used reacted with the glue and left tiny marks on the design."

Therese also had success using Mod Podge to decorate her candle. She didn't have any organza but found some no show stabilizer that had the look of sheer fabric that she used to embroider. She writes, "When I went to glue it onto my candles, I only had a thick type of glue (a thirty year old jar of Mod Podge). I diluted it and used a sponge brush to place it on the back of the designs. I didn't want to use any pins, so I wrapped a piece of plastic food wrap drawn taut around each candle. I left the designs till they were mostly dry, removed the plastic wrap, and let them finish drying. I was very pleased with the results."

If you have a tip you'd like to share about this project, we'd love to hear from you! Send an email to stitch@emblibrary.com.