Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Felt Votive Candle Holders- Part 1 of 2

Laying out silk yarn...


...and covering it with a layer of wool roving.


After felting, removing the resist.


One finished votive holder...


...and a collection...


...including one with silk yarn, silk paper and beads.


Another view of the group...


...and a 'flower-like' one with crocheted lace felted in.


My friend, Fiona got me thinking about this project prior to Christmas...

...when I read her terrific "Wool Felt Lanterns" article in the Fall issue of Living Crafts Magazine.

I loved the ephemeral look of these translucent felt pieces...

...and my girls and I decided to give them a try!

Since I'm not overly fond of working on a spherical surface...

...we opted to make them using a resist, instead of a balloon.

We did, however, follow Fiona's lead by adding silk and mixed fiber yarns for embellishment...

...and making the felt quite thin and light.

One daughter and a friend added silk paper with the yarn...

...and, when dry, embellished them with sewn-on, multicolored glass beads.

I even found a piece of crocheted cotton lace in my stash...

...and felted it into a candle holder as well!

In the end, we decided not to make them into lanterns after all...

...but have been using them as table decorations for the last month or so.

Next time: more photos of the finished candle holders...

...including 'action shots' of them in use! :)

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14 comments:

Laura said...

They turned out great! I love the one with the beads. :) Can't wait to see them in action!

Uta said...

I love these candle holders!

Thank you for showing these!

So beautiful.

Elizabeth said...

Action shots! You are so funny!

Heather Woollove said...

Laura--Thank you!!
Uta--I'm so glad you stopped by. Thanks for the nice comments!
Elizabeth--My sense of humor is, I have found, NOT for everyone, but I greatly appreciate a kindred spirit!! :)

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure I could bring myself to put a candle in one of those!

Heather Woollove said...

Rachel--They are actually quite safe...esp. with the jar lid inserts! :)

Kim van Waardenburg said...

I think you can never have too many of these!! wonderful!

Heather Woollove said...

Thanks, Kim!! I like them clustered in a group, too! XXO-

Vivian said...

They are so pretty! silk adds such a fine sheen to everything.

Heather Woollove said...

Vivian--I agree!! I found several skeins of slubby silk yarn at the Rhinebeck S&W one year, and I really love using them for felting. Do you ever knit with silk yarn?

Unknown said...

Heather! I had no idea you received Living Crafts! How fun! This is such a beautiful project! I love your crochet additions- they illuminate beautifully! I like the challenge of creating felt that is strong enough to be structural, that doesn't need a frame, but that is light enough to allow light to shine through...This is my most favourite kind of felting project- felt and light....
I'm so honoured that the article inspired you to make your own! And they are amazing! XOX-Fiona

Heather Woollove said...

Fiona--Thanks so much!! I always love the articles you write for LC, and I couldn't resist trying this one!!

Unknown said...

woow amazing, amazing, Votive Candle Holders is very pretty, I want to start immediately, thank you :)

Heather Woollove said...

You're welcome, Dan!