This week's project will be familiar to some of you, but it sure is perfect for this week between Christmas and New Year's. It's based on an idea which exists in many spiritual traditions: that
lighting a candle for someone or something you love gives it special reverence. So this
candle is covered with reminders of your favorite people, places, and things. Make one to ring in 2008!

So first, get yourself a pillar candle. I like to use white or off-white ones, but if you prefer colors, knock yourself out. And then, go through all your old magazines and precious bits of paper and cut out a lot of images and words that have significance to you.

You can use photographs on your candle, but I’d recommend that you make color photocopies of them for this project. We're going to decoupage here, and photos tend to be too thick to decoupage well.

Now, we'll be gluing all these images and words to the sides of your candle. Mod Podge is excellent for this - and I like to use the glossy-finish version. But, if you have no Mod-Podge, no worries. Use good old-fashioned Elmer's Glue instead.

Just spread some glue onto the candle, and press your cut-out into the glue. After that, I like to spread a little more glue on top of the cut-out, to make sure all the edges lie flat.

You'll want to cover just a section of the candle at a time, and then leave it alone to dry for 20 minutes or so before moving on. Here's a good trick: take two ordinary pencils, Tape them down to your work surface, parallel to each other, and about 2" apart. Set your candle on its side, between the two pencils, and it won't roll around.

Once you've glued nice things all the way around your candle, and it's had about 20 minutes to dry, then take that same Mod Podge (or glue) and spread a fairly thick coat all over your work, to seal all those cut-outs in place.

(By the way, this sponge brush I'm using here is great for decoupage, but if you don't have one, a regular paint brush works fine. Heck, if worse comes to worse, so will your fingers!

Okay, now leave your candle alone for a couple hours to dry again.

. . . And then, if you like, you can glue on some glitter, or add sparkly things here and there. Just dab on some more glue, and stick 'em down. Then let 'em dry.

A little safety note:

You’ll want to burn your candle so that you don’t end up damaging the collage you’ve so carefully built on the outside. So, the first time you light it, watch it carefully. When it’s burned down to the point where there’s a good-sized well in the center, blow out the candle. After it cools, trim the wick all the way down to the wax. Then, insert a tealight candle into this well, and burn that instead. Now your celebration candle will last forever! And, as they say . . . never leave a burning candle unattended.