Last Updated on 25/10/2023 by Candles Recharge

DIY Tutorial: Upcycled Aluminium Tea Light Candle Lanterns

Today’s DIY candle holder idea came from ruffledblog.com I loved not only the look of these candle holders BUT also the fact that you can be upcycling a material to make them!

Not only would these be perfect to use at home but you could also use them in a retail store for a display and of course at your wedding or function! They are inspired from Moroccan lanterns and make use of those metal sheets that are often used on radiator covers. An extra thing you could do is to thread ribbon or wire on them to make a decorative design or even to mark table numbers. If you have a stencil you could also spray that on top of you base coat, I think that would also look fantastic as a geometric design on the sheets.

These candle holders look just a beautiful in daylight as they do in the night when illuminated by one of our flameless tea light candles.

What else that i find fantastic about these DIY candle holders is the pattern that will be thrown out by the flickering candle light through the holes in the metal radiator sheets.

Materials Needed:

Perforated metal sheets that are preferably upcycled from used radiator covers.
Tin snips
Fine sandpaper for metal
20 or 22 gauge wire
Flat pliers
Spray paint
Flameless tea light candles

Instructions:

Before you start you should create templates on a piece of paper to play with proportions before you start cutting your metal sheets. Once you have your template sorted, outline them with a pencil on your metal sheets.
Slowly cut your rectangles.
To turn them into the circular cylinders use the help of either your spray can or another cylindrical object that you have at your disposal. Wrap the sheet cutouts around your cylindrical objects and then roll them a few times, this is to help you achieve the round shape.
Once you are satisfied with your rolling efforts and the shape you have, thread both ends of your cylinder using the 20/22 gauge wire and twist it tight using the pliers. Then cut off any excess wire.
Before spray painting you can insert newspaper into the lantern to stop the spray paint from going through. By doing this you will achieve a two tone effect between the inside and outside. Plus it will conceal the wire closure.
Spray paint your holders and let dry. Once dried remove the newspaper insert and you are ready to insert your flameless tea light candles.
Don’t forget that you are able to use thread or ribbon to create numbers or geometric patterns that you thread through the holes in the metal sheet.

And that’s it! Super simple, yet very effective! We have some images of the different stages below for you.

Please leave us your comments below if you like this project. And check back regularly for new DIY projects.