Candle craft: Candles that truly shine

Supplies (for each)
Cylindrical glass hurricane candleholder, vase or tumbler
Vellum or watercolour paper
Double-sided tape, 1/2 in wide
Measuring tape, pencil, ruler and set square
Tracing and carbon paper (both optional)
Darning or tapestry needle and/or awl

Instructions
1. With measuring tape, measure candleholder circumference, then add 2 cm (3/4 in) for total circumference; measure candleholder height, straight up from base to rim (or just below lip). On vellum with pencil, ruler and set square, mark rectangle, total circumference x height; cut out.

2. Working freehand with needle, pierce patterns of dots through vellum from wrong side, spacing dots 3 to 6 mm/1/8 to 1/4 in apart.

3. Wrap vellum around candleholder, right side out; apply double-sided tape to underlapping edge, overlap other edge 2 cm and adhere.

Designer's tips
• To make handle for needle, push end with eye up into wine-bottle cork.

• If you don't want to work freehand: Lay tracing paper over desired motif(s) –such as your own design, or motif from magazine or colouring book – and "trace" lines with series of dots, then, with carbon paper, transfer onto wrong side of vellum and pierce.

• For no-flame "candlelight," use battery-operated LED votives and pillar candles, which produce a soft, flickering glow just like the real thing.

Read more:
• Holiday craft: Easy-to-make gift bags
• Knit a coffee cup sleeve
• Our best 140 easy and free knitting patterns