Friday, October 9, 2009

Spooky Silhouette Votives

I love our tumblers and will find ANY excuse to take photos of them in our decor. When not 'in use' we have them sitting on our bar with our absinthiana.

I recently stumbled upon a post where someone hacked their own version of silhouetted candles. Nicely done, I think, but I'd like to take it a step further and combine it with these instructions found on Country Living.

STEP 1: Measure the height and circumference of the glass candleholder you want to transform.
STEP 2: Scan or download a copyright-free black-and-white illustration onto your computer (we used antique drawings from The Clip Art Book, from $7.59; Gramercy). Using Adobe Photoshop or a similar photo-editing program, adjust the image's size and orientation to fit your vessel's measurements (it may help to print a sample first).
STEP 3: Once the image is the correct size, load white vellum into your printer and print. Gently set the image on a flat surface for a few minutes to allow the ink to dry.
STEP 4: Trim the vellum so it measures exactly as tall as your candleholder and half an inch wider than its circumference.
STEP 5:
Wrap the paper around the candleholder and secure the overlapping ends with double-sided tape. Fit the glass with a candle and light.

I'll be back in the next week or two with our own versions. We need to purchase vellum this weekend for a couple of projects. But for now, I'll get this up for anyone to try.

Upadte 10.29.09 - The finished tutorial has been featured at Design*Sponge!

ETA : I love d*s reader Azzy's suggestion of painting the vellum with India ink. I'm thinking of trying it myself when I can get downtown to pickup the supplies. Thank you!

4 comments:

Grace said...

I so so SO envy you these tumblers. I searched high and low on ebay, and never found anything remotely similar. What were the search terms you recommended, again?

The DIY ones are lovely, but yours take the cake.

Evita said...

I think 'Carew Rice Tumbers' is what I've used and
I've seen that is the search criteria used in how people have found the photos at times.

Good 'ole stats!

I've seen some auction listings recently, but none of the price information.

Erin said...

Hi!
I'm the person who hacked the much less cool version of these over at Curbly. But yours, well, they're BEAUTIFUL!
You did a great job and passing on your template is awesome and generous and kind.
Very good show indeed!

Evita said...

Hi there! I really liked your hack!

I'm thinking of doing a couple winter scenes and post them for use.

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