DIY Dollar Tree Candle and Water Slide Decal

Learning about water slide decal sheets and printing out decals opened up a new world of crafting for me! I thought it would be fun to put it together with my version on making homemade candles and a water slide decal for this Inspiration Friday Valentine’s Day project!

You can use water slide decals on so many different types of projects from tumblers, wood, soap, paper, glass, and candles. For this project, I have added a heart waterslide to a homemade candle using supplies from Dollar Tree.

Supplies:

• Candles
• Heart Covered Vase
• Mason Jar
• Water Slide Paper
• Krylon Clear Coat
• Ribbon or Twine

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I have been using water slide decals on tumblers under epoxy for quite some time. I found water slide paper on Amazon, and it works great! The video above will walk you step by step through making my version of homemade candles and creating a water slide decal.

Creating a Water Slide Decal

Step 1

Since I use my Cricut so much, I decided to use Design Space and LoveSVG.com to create my Valentine water slide decal. If you don’t have Design Space, you can also use Word and insert any picture of your choice.

The pattern for this heart is available for free to subscribers of my email newsletter. When you subscribe to my weekly newsletter you also get access to my Free Resource Library which has this pattern and many other resources to help inspire you to create lots of projects.

So first you need to decide on a design and then using the print them cut feature in Design Space I print the image on water slide paper.

Step 2

Allow the print out to dry and then spray the paper with 2-3 coats of Krylon clear coat, letting it dry between coats.

Step 3

Cut out your picture close to the edge and put it in lukewarm water for about 15-30 seconds until the decal slides off the paper. The decal will slide right off.

Lay your picture on your project surface and then slide the backing paper out.

A few tips to save you from my mistakes!
I found 2-3 coats of acrylic spray worked the best, and it made the decals stiffer and less likely to wrinkle or curl. Apply a real “wet” coat, not just a light “dry” coat, if you do not apply a wet coat, it will not seal your ink and when you get it wet the ink will come off. Since the decals are somewhat transparent, they work best on white, clear, or light objects, and the graphics disappeared on dark objects.

I hope this project has inspired you to tryout the water slide technique. Why not grab some candles for Dollar Tree and order some water slide paper from Amazon and try out these DIY Dollar Tree Candles and Waterslide. Think of all the possibilities!