Easy Christmas Votives

My oldest son, Jonathan, came home from Sabbath School with an adorable votive candle that he had personalized by adding bits of tissue paper with glue. I immediately thought how fun it would be to duplicate this craft for Christmas!

I ran all over Auburn looking for cheap glass votives. The ones shown here are from Walgreens and aren't super cheap, but very pretty finished. I found different ones at WalMart later. They're not the same shape but will still be cute. I also asked Jonathan's teacher where she got hers for the class and she said Michael's. They weren't the filled kind so you have to use a tea light inside. Just so you know!

I had my 3- and 5-year-olds help tear the tissue paper. I went back and ripped these pieces smaller and smoothed out the wadded up bits. Cute kids. A little paper goes a long way!

We then painted the outside of the votives with glue, then stuck tissue paper bits all over. 

I bet you can guess which is Jared's (3), mine and Jonathan's (5). I helped the kids flatten and smooth the tissue paper and fill in the bare spots.

I thought this cute ribbon from the dollar spot at Target would be a great finishing touch, so I glued that on too. 

Jonathan didn't want red paper on his candle. 

Jared wanted his to look like mommy's. Aw...

And I never took a proper 'after' photo, but here's one from my phone! We love how the candle shines through the tissue paper.

This was an inexpensive, easy craft that can be easily personalized with the colors you want. Jonathan enjoyed the project, but Jared (age 3) was a touch frustrated by his sticky fingers.

What crafts have you done this Christmas?