DIY Beach Inspired Starfish Tea Light Candle Holders

I love the beach! I also happen to be one of the lucky few who lives only a couple of hours away from an ocean beach! However, in the Pacific NW, the weather at the beach is extremely unpredictable this time of year… One day it’s 70°F and sunny and your working on your tan, and the next day out of nowhere comes cold biting wind and sideways rain. You can’t get frostbite at the beach right?

Well anyway, Spring is here to stay, and with it comes more sunny days and thoughts of frolicking in the sand. These beach inspired soy tea light candle holders are the perfect thing to give you that beach ambiance you crave, without getting sand up your shorts!

They make the perfect addition to a beach themed wedding, backyard barbecue, or home decor accent.  Use them in an entryway to welcome guests, or in a bathroom to add a romantic feel to your next bubble bath.

And the best part is that they’re so easy to make!

You will need…

• Cylinder shaped glass candle holders in two heights
• 2 lengths of sisal rope, 1- 123″, and 1- 164″
• 2 starfish, 1 smaller than the other
• Beach sand
• Soy tea light candles
• Hot glue gun and glue
• Scissors

So what are we waiting for! Let’s get started!

To start this project, you will need the shorter candle holder, and the shorter length of rope (or the taller one and the longer rope, your choice!).  Wrap the rope around the base of the candle holder, and place a dab of hot glue on top of the cut end of rope, right at the spot where the ends will overlap. Press the free end of rope into place on top of the cut end, and hold it there until the glue has set. Wrap the rope around once, and place another dab of glue on the next layer of rope, in the same overlap spot as before.

 

Continue this process of wrapping the rope and gluing it down over and over again, gluing in the same spot each time so that your line of glue is all in one place.  Continue doing this until you reach the end of your rope…

You want the end of the rope to line up with the overlap spot that you’ve been gluing this whole time, so cut any excess rope with scissors so that it lines up properly.

Than glue down the end piece, again making sure that it lines up with the rest of the spots you have glued.

Once you are finished with the shorter candle holder, repeat this entire process with the taller candle holder.

Next, firmly glue your beautiful starfish in place on the front of your candle holders, gluing the smaller starfish on the shorter candle holder and the larger one on the taller candle holder.

Finally, add your sand and soy tea light candles and your good to go! I used some beach sand that we collected on our last trip to the beach, but you can also purchase different types of sand at the craft store, or you could collect some river or lake sand to use as well.  The soy tea light candles used in the picture are our handmade Candeo Candle beach dunes soy tea lights, which adds to the whole beach ambiance that I wanted to achieve with these. Now just light your tea lights and enjoy the warm glow!

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