Rainbow DIY Taper Candle Holder — Bring the wow factor to your home with a Rainbow DIY Taper Candle Holder. This fun project is as simple as drilling holes into a piece of wood. And it looks just as pretty unlit as it does lit.
Surprisingly, I’m not actually the pyro-fiend between Jared and I. But hey! I’m always happy to come up with a DIY that he can spend hours lighting until his heart’s content.
Considering this Rainbow DIY Taper Candle Holder is about three feet long and full of about 50 taper candles, he’ll be good for a while!
In all seriousness though, I don’t condone fire hazards so I’d recommend only lighting a few at a time, However, it looks just as pretty unlit if you ask me!
For those of you that are big romantic lighting fans that also have a special place in your heart for rainbows, prepare to freak out over your next dinner party table.
(Plus, my trick for getting pretty melted candles without the wait!)
Naturally, I had to match my new Kate Spade watercolor dress to the Indre By Design Eames dining chairs, to the colorful candles, to the table legs… because I clearly have no life.
(The dress is unfortunately sold out, but how fun is this dress I just spotted?!)
Back to the DIY…. let’s get started!
Tools & Materials Needed To Make A Rainbow DIY Taper Candle Holder
- Colorful taper candles — I purchased the candles online in varying heights, sizes and colors from Zest Candle since I loved the staggered look with small candles and tall candles.
- Oak board — My oak wood measures 4-inches high x 4-inches wide x 3-feet long.
- Drill
- 3/4-inch spade bit set
- Fine sand paper
Candle Safety Tips
BEFORE WE GET STARTED: I’d like to preface that don’t condone playing with fire and/or making fire hazard DIY’s.
So be careful when lighting this little centerpiece, especially if you’re making one as large as ours.
It is very important that none of the candle wicks ever touch. I also recommend only lighting a few at a time to make it a safer environment.
And never leave lit candles unattended!
How To Make A Rainbow DIY Taper Candle Holder
1 — Start drilling holes in a staggered motion all the way down the wood. Make sure to keep the holes far enough apart so that the candles and wicks won’t touch when lit.
2 — Once you’ve drilled all of the holes you need, use a super fine grit sand paper to smooth the edges of the holes for a finished look before inserting the candles.
How To Get A Drip Candle Look
Now to get the cool melted look (without having to wait a million years for each candle to burn down enough), I used a butane (or culinary) torch instead of lighting them each individually.
All you have to do is run the torch along the candle a handful of times. And you get the full effect in seconds.
Easy peasy!
More Candle And Aromatherapy DIY Ideas
I hope all of my fellow color lovers enjoy this DIY candle holder idea! I have to say it might be be seen styled in the background of upcoming posts because I love it so much!
In case you’re looking for a few other candle and aromatherapy DIY projects, here are some of my favorites from the archives —
- How to make wax candles with rosemary and grapefruit
- DIY Reed Diffuser: How to make an essential oil diffuser
- Faux wood candle holder
- Copper candle holder
- Wooden taper candle holder
- DIY citronella candles (using a glass jar and balloons)
Rainbow DIY Taper Candle Holder
Rainbow DIY Taper Candle Holder
Equipment
- Drill
- 3/4-inch spade drill bit
Ingredients
Instructions
- Drill holes in a staggered motion all the way down the wood. Make sure the holes are far enough apart so that the candle and wicks don't touch when lit.
- For a finished look, use a super fine grit sand paper to smooth the edges of the holes before inserting your candles.
Hi! Love this idea! I just made 4 of these following you directions with the 3/4” spade drill. I ordered some zest candles but they don’t fit! Do you happen to have a link for where you purchased your candles. I’m worried I have all these candle holders now and no candles to fit! Hope you can help! Thanks!!
Hi Heather! Oh no! Did you order the Zest Candles linked? We checked and even though they’re different heights, they’re all the same diameters. What are the diameters of yours?
We haven’t had anyone else tell us about fit issues. It is a tight fit so that the candles don’t wobble around or fall out. Since you already drilled them, you can trim the base of the taper candles to get them in. We highly recommend sanding the holes beforehand also. There’s also a super cheap candle shaver to make it easier.
I am so in love with this, I’m trying to mentally work out a solution to the wax dripping onto the table top because I think I want to make one.
Hi Hayley! We purposely melted the candles to drip like this! You can fake the drip effect so that it’s not as “melted” as ours! Also, don’t worry. If you are lighting the candles, they won’t drip down like ours in the photo. That was just a visual effect. It won’t be until you’ve really burned them for a long period of time (which we don’t recommend) would the candles melt like this! XOXO
OMG I love this so much, totaly woth making, definetly saving this for when I have a place of my own.
Btw, I love your dress, can you tell me where did you get it?
Aww! So glad to hear that, Daniela! The dress is from Kate Spade, but unfortunately it’s all sold out :(
It looks really lovely, but it’s super dangerous. All those candles would give off immense heat, which is a definite fire hazard. Please bear this in mind!! It’s a wonderful centrepiece, but don’t light it up, please…
yes, that’s why the post explains to only light a few at a time ;)
Lovely! And so festive!
Thank you, Queti! XOXO
Beautiful! Can you Please share Your source for the candles? I could not get The link to work!
Super cute, but the re-user in me would love to know how easy it was to scrape the wax off and clean? Also, did the shorter candles melt the taller ones on the side?
Hi Christy! We spaced the candles far enough so that they’ll didn’t touch and melt each other. We highly recommend doing the same or it would be a fire hazard. It’s easy scraping off the wax if it’s all dried, but it’s definitely a bit harder to totally get rid of all the wax. Doable but lots of scraping and scrubbing! You’d have to take off all the candles.
^^ And I can’t spell
Ummmm….i sense a hanukkah proEjct coming on!!!
ohhhh…if ever there was a reason to learn to use a power drill ^^ those candle colors are amazing!
Wow love it! Where can i get such candles?
Hi Efrat! They’re Zest Candles. We purchased them on Amazon. They’re linked in the post!
Gorgeous idea! Love this DIY and it’s so very simple and easy to craft!
Love the colors – perfect springtime diy! <3
-Clarissa @ The View From Here
thanks clarissa!
Ashley! I am dying. This might be one of my favorite projects of yours EVER – which is saying a lot. Bravo.
Carrie
http://www.wearwherewell.com
Thank you Carrie! You’re the best cheerleader ever, ha! ;) xo
Good GOD, this is beautiful!!! Love it!
Thank you!!! xo
Love this! Also adore your dress, perfect for this setup!
It was a coincidence it matched so well, but I love how it turned out! haha xo
I LOVE THE COLORS!
thanks Kristina!
Stunning! Love It!
http://www.windlasse.com
Ah! Such a lovely idea!
Thanks Monique!
You have picked the candle colors so well! It looks wonderful!
Well thank you Lynn!