It Started With A Glue Gun & Holey Sweater…

I was flipping through the October issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray and saw this great article on turning tattered sweaters into candle cozies. The craft looked simple enough, only requiring a glue gun and a sweater you no longer wear so I decided to try it. I rummaged through my closet to find a sweater I no longer wear, which was a bit difficult because I had just made a huge Goodwill donation with all the clothes I don’t wear anymore. I finally found a sweater that had missed the discard pile because even though it did have a hole in it, I still loved it. So I thought, what the heck, let’s give it a try.

It’s super easy, took about 2 minutes and depending on what sweaters you use, you could come up with hundreds of different looks. (I actually didn’t use my glue gun for this because as you’ll see, I kept taking things in different directions and didn’t want to keep scraping glue off the objects I was using.) So instead, I taped everything but the glue will keep everything tighter.

Start by cutting off a section near the cuff of your sweater. Then pull the fabric over a candle holder. Secure the cuff edge to the rim of the candle holder with a band of hot glue and let dry. (Or you can pull it up halfway.) Pull the sweater taut and trim the bottom to fit, leaving enough to tuck underneath, and secure with more hot glue. Tie on seasonal decorations with kitchen twine.

 

I didn’t want to cut up sweaters I actually still wear so I just kind of “winged it” to give you some more examples. Look around your house, your yard, the thrift stores, for fun and seasonal ways you can do this. I bought a big bag of mismatched jewelry from Goodwill a while back so I pulled that out, (which is where the cat earring came from in the previous picture.) Beads, ribbon, leaves, cinnamon sticks, etc. You can match your home decor, the season, your dishes, whatever.

So I could have left it at that and ended up my post but I sometimes get on a roll, and my brain doesn’t shut down. If you can do it with a sweater I thought, what else can you do it with? And do you even have to put the sweater cuff around a candle holder or can you just glue it to the candle itself? Again, I didn’t want to actually cut up any of my own clothing to use as examples but you’ll still get the idea. I did find a glove that didn’t have its mate so I did experiment with that.

So the wrist of a glove works just like a sweater (as long as it’s a knit, leather’s not going to work.)You can cut your pieces off longer to fit the entire candle holder or candle, or cut off just a bit for a “band” of color. I did try using the finger sections but they were just too small to fit around anything I had, and believe me, I tried. I found that a sock will work too. And yes, you can glue the sweater cuff to the candle itself, without using a candle holder but I had to try several times and use a lot of glue to get it to stick to the waxy candle itself.

By now it’s noon and my glue gun is still hot and I have a ton of “stuff” on my counters I was experimenting with. Out of my bag of mismatched jewelry I pulled stud earrings out, along with a piece that might have come from a necklace (on the brown candle). Then I went to my box of decorative supplies and pulled out vase gems and some pearl beading I had leftover from a wedding shower I threw several years ago. Just to show how many different ways you can dress up a simple candle. I bought a lot of these candles from Goodwill and garage sales because I actually burn my candles and don’t mind if they get beat up or have that dripped wax look going on. Oh, and I found some buttons too.

So then, I just kept going…I try not to get my glue gun out that often because this always happens. I went to the garage and looked at what might be out there I could use, my yard, and of course my big bag of jewelry. I bought this wicker basket at Goodwill to use for something else, the football scatter was bought at Michael’s last year AFTER football season so I got it for 75% off, and the sticks are courtesy of my yard. I’m not for sure what the piece that’s hanging on the wicker came off of but it was in my bag of jewelry. And on the white candle are washers from the tool box.

I didn’t have any paper plates or tin foil in the house so I had been using a brown paper lunch to rest my glue gun on. As I was about to stop for the day, I looked at that paper bag and thought, hmm? And somehow I went from using a sweater and candle holder to a wine glass and plant pots with paper bags.

So now it’s 4:30 and I have been in my kitchen all day working on a 5 minute idea. At one point I thought I could make cat hats with my sweater cuffs…

The kitchen is a disaster and my husband will be home soon. This is why I don’t do crafts that often but I’m hoping you get some ideas here for whatever occasion, decor, or season you’re decorating for.