Get The High-End Pottery Barn Christmas Candle For Less With TikTok's DIY Dupe
The holiday season is one of the best times of the year to go all-out with your design ideas, and you shouldn't let the creative opportunity go to waste. That said, you may want to rethink buying new holiday decor this season, especially those decorations sold at high-end stores that, frankly, you can make for yourself. One classic example of DIY Christmas decorating comes from TikTok content creator @whiskeyandwhit, who shares how to recreate a popular Pottery Barn candle with some basic supplies from the dollar store. The candle in question is the Candy Striped Premium Flickering Flameless Wax Pillar Candle, which has a starting price of $69. If that sounds like a big price tag for a fake candle, you're not alone. TikToker @whiskeyandwhit was able to create an almost exact replica of this candle using a dollar store LED candle, glitter, and Mod Podge.
For this project, you'll need a flameless candle, which you can find at any bargain retailer, like this LED candle from Dollar Tree. The project also requires Mod Podge and painter's tape, which you can find online and in most craft stores. Finally, you'll need glitter. To copy the Pottery Barn candle precisely, get red glitter. However, you can really choose any festive color you want — blue, silver, gold, or green. If you want to save a little money on glitter, don't hesitate to get a children's glitter product. It will still give you the same results!
DIY a striped candle
Start by using your painter's tape to make the candy stripe pattern around the candle. The tape should be evenly spaced and slightly curved, following the round shape of the candle. If you need a reference, just look at the Pottery Barn candle. You can also put a layer of tape over the top of the candle — cleaning up glitter can be a nightmare, and it's a classic mistake to avoid as a new DIYer. Once the tape is in place, use a paintbrush to apply Mod Podge to the gaps in between the tape stripes. After a section is covered in Mod Podge, sprinkle a generous coat of glitter on top. Give the candle a gentle tap to shake off any excess glitter that isn't sticking. Continue this process until all the stripes are finished. Once dry, seal in your glitter with another coat of Mod Podge.
At the end of the drying process, carefully peel off the tape, revealing a beautiful, sparkly candy stripe design. If you want to give your DIY Christmas candle a slightly longer lifespan, finish the project off with a clear coat of spray paint. Now, will this DIY candle be as perfectly precise and high-quality as the Pottery Barn original? Probably not. But it will look very charming, and for a decoration that only gets used once a year, this DIY project is definitely worth it to save the money.