Sunday, November 27, 2011

Family Candles

I hope everybody had a blessed and happy Thanksgiving Holiday!  I was fortunate to spend the holiday in Georgia with my sister, her family and my son (who's attending school over here), for the feast and we had a beautiful time.

During our special bonding period, we decided on the perfect gift for our siblings - 8 in total - Family Candles.  Okay, so what is a Family Candle?  Actually it's something we made up... my older sister is the historian in the  family who we're always calling to find out about birthdays, deaths, etc.  So to eliminate this annual question of birthdays we decided to put it on a candle!

Sorry, I don't have very many pics but it's easy to follow:

First we identified the pictures we wanted to use and printed them on tissue paper.  We found the best way to do this was to tape the tissue paper along the corners and edges on top of plain paper.  I think it's better to print your pictures first to make sure your candles will be the correct size.

We then took plain candles and glued the pictures on them.  I used mod podge for this.





So this is my family





Well, remember I said we can never remember each other's b'day... we also typed the date of birth for each sibling and glued it to the back of the candle, because there were so many of us we were always dubbed The Rolland Clan (smile).




We didn't stop there...my parents died at a very early age and none of us (excepting my sister Teresa the "historian") could remember their date of birth or death.  So we purchased additional candles to include my parents.



And then we included my grandmother (on my father's side) who played a major role in our upbringing.  I remember taking this picture of her when I first started playing around with black & white photography.  Although she enjoyed dressing up, on those hot,blistery Georgia summer days she was known to sit on the porch with her hair wrapped in a scarf.  When I showed her this picture she was quite upset...but I always loved it.




This is the first of our Family Candles.











Although it's difficult to tell from the pictures the candles used were creamy yellows (siblings) and white (parents).












I was so impressed with how these candles turned out I decided I would try to do a family line using candles.  They make a beautiful display plus they'll provide a good source of reference for my son when he's ready to trace back his family line.

Because I'll be leaving in a few days, I'll be giving each of them their Family Candles early.  But I'm hoping we will never have to call the "historian" for birth dates again (smile).




Now its your turn to LET YOUR CREATIVITY FLOW!

35 comments:

Tina said...

What a wonderful idea you and your sister had. I like gifts that are functional in more ways than one.

Cathy @ My 1929 Charmer said...

How simple, and nice. I love when we take something plain and dress it up so it's pretty. Thanks so much for stopping by and liking my Holiday's Pillows. Thanks for following, now I follow you. I'm inviting you to post this at Sunday's Best Party today (4 pm central). Hope to see you there.

Tammy @ Type A said...

very pretty, what a grea idea! i can't find your follow button?

An Oasis in the Desert said...

I love this idea. I think I might try this in January after all the hubbub of the holidays is past and the house looks a bit bare. Thanks for visiting my blog & following, and now I'm following you, too!
CAS

Tanya from Dans le Lakehouse said...

These candles are so sweet! I'm glad I'm not the only one who has trouble remembering birth days!

Brandi said...

Beautiful idea Sherry! You and your sisters are very clever to come up with this!

Desire Empire said...

What a fabulous idea. Following you now too.

Unknown said...

Lovely...I love this idea! You have a lovely family! Hugs! Loretta

U said...

Hi!!! Randee here from Randee's Organized Chaos!!! LOVE the candles!!! Can't wait to see what you come up with next!!! ;)

Unknown said...

These are darling! What a wonderful gift idea! I'm so glad to be following you and getting such great inspiration!!!

Aimee from ItsOverflowing.com

Angie @ Knick of Time said...

What a beautiful idea! They turned out so nicely and make a lovely gift!

Thanks for becoming a new follower at Knick of Time - I'm following you now!

Don't forget to enter my Canvas Photo Print Giveaway - it makes the perfect gift!
http://knickoftimeinteriors.blogspot.com/2011/11/better-than-black-friday-deal-canvas.html

Feel free to link up to the Knick of Time Tuesday link party - the party is going on all week.

http://knickoftimeinteriors.blogspot.com/2011/11/knick-of-time-tuesday-9.html

Blessings,
Angie @ Knick of Time Interiors

Barbara @ 21 Rosemary Lane said...

Hi Sherry...

Thank you for stopping by 21 Rosemary Lane today. I have to say that I agree with you completely on the fact that you really don't need to spend a lot of money to have a beautiful home!

Have a great week and by the way I am following you back!

PJH Designs said...

Wow I never would have thought to do the photos on the candles they turned out great. I'm a new follower :-)

Eileen said...

These are a wonderful idea! Especially convenient and pretty at the same time. Thanks for the tip on tissue paper printing. another clever idea. I am going to follow your thrifty and smart ideas.
Eileen @ Cottage Beach House

Jennifer @ Bleu Pom said...

Wow! What a simple idea that has a fabulous result!

Thank you for your nice comments on my blog, I am so glad you liked my gallery wall.

Shelly @Crafty Creative Studio said...

Great idea -perfect that the dates are on the back!

Becca Bertotti said...

What a sentimental and fabulous Christmas gift idea !! And, adding the birthdays on the back is genious !! Thank you so much for your kind words about my Christmas "Nutcracker" mantel from last year, too !!

Lori said...

What a great idea! I love pretty things that have sentimental value!

Stephanie from GardenTherapy.ca said...

Those are wonderful candles - what a great idea! I just made candles this week too. I can't wait to make family candles like yours though.

Vanessa said...

Hi, Sherry

Great idea with the candles. I am a new follower. Thank you for stopping by homesweetbutterfly.com. I really appreciate your kind words and your follow.

Vanessa

Unknown said...

What a beautiful tradition for your family to have -love this idea-Thanks for following me and now I'm your newest follower!

Chynadoll said...

Wow! What a great Idea. They came out beautiful and are worth more than any store brought gift anytime!. Great job on them. I am inspired to make one for my sisters and brothers and get them in on this great tradition. Thanks for this wonderful post

Cathy @ My 1929 Charmer said...

Still lov.er.y. Thanks for sharing at Sunday's Best. We loved seeing you creative idea.

Sandy Ang said...

They look great !

PAINTORDIG.blogspot.com said...

What a great idea! They look great.I have done similar ones, but I use a heat gun to set the tissue into the candle-no seams-people wonder how you did it.

Coley said...

I love your candles, they turned out great :)
Cute idea!

whatyoumakeit-coley.blogspot.com

Marilyn said...

These look awesome : )) LOVELY..

Debbiedoos said...

How special is that! They turned out awesome!

Ronda Batchelor said...

cute idea. Just came visiting after you left a sweet comment on my blog. Thanks.

Linda said...

THANKS SHERRY FOR THE LOVELY COMPLIMENT AND NOT BAD FOR MY FIRST TRY. LOVE YOUR CANDLES, GREAT IDEA.

Unknown said...

These are so sweet! They would make great Christmas gifts.

Trish said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

I love this idea with the candles - I never would have thought to use tissue paper like that.

Anonymous said...

I am definitely going to do this, great work!

Maureen Wyatt said...

That is the nicest family gift I have seen yet! Thanks for the idea! ~ Maureen

Chris said...

Hi Sherry, what a great idea. I'm sure the family will be thrilled to get a share of them. You and your sister came up with something special. Thanks for sharing. I have recently found your blog and am now following you, and will visit often. Please stop by my blog and perhaps you would like to follow me also. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Chris