Get creative and liven up your homeware game by trying your hand at Instagram’s favourite interiors trend: hand-painting beautiful decorative candles. 

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The dinner candle has well and truly made a return over the past year. Block colour tapered candles are the new must-have homeware piece for every influencer and dinner host on the internet. Taking the trend one step further, a whole host of candle makers are creating hand-painted candles, with floral, fruity and abstract designs.

Painting candles yourself is actually fairly simple. Whether you’ve made your own tapered candle or you’ve got some spares lying around the house from a lockdown-induced online spending spree, why not get creative this bank holiday weekend and take your candle game to the next level? 

We asked Otter Hatchett, the founder of By Otter, a hand-painted candle brand based in Peckham, to share her tips for creating beautiful, personalised candles at home with minimal equipment. 

By Otter was born during lockdown and inspired in part by Laura Jackson’s #makeamealofitchallenge. “I wanted to create some fun, colourful candles for a Mexican-themed dinner I was planning. So I started experimenting with citrus fruits like clementines, lemons and limes,” says Otter. She uses lots of different textures in her work and has become known for abstract designs and fruity motifs.

Here is Otter’s tutorial for creating stunning tapered candles, exclusively for The Curiosity Academy readers.

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Candle making for beginners: how to make your own dinner candles

What you’ll need:

• Candles
• Rubbing alcohol or surgical spirit
• Lint-free cloth
• Paint brushes or sponges depending on the texture you’re after
• Acrylic paint
• Paper stencils (optional)

How to paint candles

1. First, prep your candle by cleaning it with rubbing alcohol or surgical spirit and a lint-free cloth. This will remove the sheen and help create a more absorbent surface.
2. Paint your design straight onto the candle using a paint brush or a sponge and acrylic paint. You can create your designs freehand or using paper stencils. 
3. Let the first coat dry before applying the second coat. The amount of coats you will need depends on what colour paint you’re using and on your design. As a general rule, two is usually enough.
4. Leave to dry for a couple of hours. 
5. Once the candles are finished, handle with care as the paint can chip or scratch if not looked after or stored carefully. 

Otter’s tips for creating beautiful painted candles safely

Experiment and don’t be a perfectionist

“As long as you’ve prepped the candle, the paint should go on without any problems,” Otter says. “It’s definitely trickier to paint on a curved surface but use the candle shape to your advantage and don’t worry about it being perfect to begin with. Just start experimenting with different designs and techniques and see what works for you!”

Pick your colours wisely

Otter likes to buy candles that come in one block colour and paint contrasting colours onto them. It makes the candles look striking and helps the designs stand out. “Pink and red is a strong contender,” she says of her favourite colour combinations. She also loves combining different shades of the same colour, like green on green.

Use the wax that works for you

“My candles are made from paraffin wax which works best for me,” Otter says. “But I think it’s about experimenting and finding what works for your design.” You can use any wax but you might find that different kinds of wax work better with different paints. It’s best to experiment to find what works for you.

Prioritise safety if you burn your candles

Your candles will be safe to burn after a few hours of the paint drying, as long as you use water-based, non-toxic acrylic paint. “The amount of paint used can also affect the burn time so I’d avoid covering the whole candle in paint and stick to smaller designs,” she says. “Like with any candle, you should keep an eye on them when lit and make sure they’re never left unattended.” 

“Some would argue they’re too pretty to burn,” she adds, explaining they can be used simply as a homeware accessory if you’d prefer.

Haven’t got any tapered candles to hand? No problem! You can make your own with this beginner-friendly candle-making tutorial from The Curiosity Academy. You can also buy hand-painted candles directly from By Otter.

• Otter Hatchett, founder of By Otter

  Otter founded By Otter during lockdown in 2020 and she has since become known for her signature pastel abstract and fruity designs.

Images: Otter Hatchett

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