Piney Hills
Flicker Candles
Materials List:
1, 10ft x ¾ inch schedule 40 PVC pipe
Hot Glue Gun and many, many glue sticks
1, 10 pack of Hobby Lobby Flicker Lights
White Latex Spray Paint
Some scrap pieces of Foam Board
Cost:
¾ PVC Pipe = $3.00
Hobby Lobby Flicker Strand = $10.00
Hot Glue Gun and Sticks (already had)
White Latex Spray Paint = $4.00
Pink Extruded Foam Board (already had)
Total Cost = $17.00
Turn up the creep factor with some spooky Flicker Candles!
These candles are great! You can use them anywhere. Near tombstones, around your Crypt, or next to a collection of Potion Bottles, etc. The ideas are endless! So enjoy!
Tools needed for this project:
Miter saw or hack saw, hot glue gun and glue sticks, and a serrated knife or box cutter. Drill with circular bit is optional.
Tips:
For this particular Flicker Strand, don't cut a PVC candle any longer than 7 inches making just one 7 inches and the others must be shorter.
When inserting the Flicker sockets, alternate longer PVC candles with shorter ones to get the most reach out of the strands for the longer candles.
Glue your candles together to make it easier to align the flicker sockets in the PVC candles. It's trial and error, but eventually you will make them all fit without having to cut the strand.
Cut the ¾ inch PVC to candle length.
I cut my PVC at 7, 6.5, 6, 5.25,5, 4.5, 4, 3.75, 3.5,3 inches in length.
Basically, you could choose any lengths in between there, but you only have 10 flicker sockets, so only ten candles can be used.
Fire up the Hot Glue Gun!
Now that your glue gun is good and hot, begin gluing the PVC candles to each other. I tried to glue the sides with the writing on them together, so I wouldn't have to put so many coats of spray paint on them.
Continue gluing the PVC to each individual piece until all pieces are attached.
Glue, glue, glue, and then glue some more!
OK, when all PVC candles are glued together, reinforce the pieces by gluing in the seams of each PVC candles until the whole thing is completely attached to itself.
Use scrap Foam Board as the base.
Next, I pressed the PVC candles into a small square piece of foam board so that it made an impression in the foam.
Cut out the impression in the foam board.
I used a drill with a circular bit, but you could do this step with the knife if you are careful.
WARNING! - CUT AT YOUR OWN RISK! IF YOU ARE NOT SKILLED AT CUTTING FOAM BOARD, PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS! ALWAYS CUT ON A SECURE AND LEVEL SURFACE.
Use the serrated knife to cut the foam board base.
Once you have the template of the PVC candles cut out you will want to cut out the shape of your base. Mine is just square, but you could cut it out in any pattern you like.
ONCE AGAIN - WARNING! - KNIFES ARE NOT FOR PLAY. BE CAREFUL AND CUT AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Hot Glue the PVC in the foam base.
At this point you will want to glue the PVC candles into the foam board to secure it.
Don't be bashful with the hot glue here. You want the candles to be really secure to the base. Just don't glue the PVC holes shut, only glue around the outside of the candles where it touches the foam board.
Add a second base of Foam Board.
After the first base has been glued. I cut and added an additional piece of foam board to give me some room for the flicker strand wires to hide.
Just cut another piece of foam board slightly larger than the first.
Next, cut out the inside of that piece so that the flicker lights can be accessed from below.
You will want to notch out a small spot in the back of this second base to allow the flicker plugs a place to exit. Just hot glue them in place out the back.
Insert Flicker sockets into the PVC candles.
First, remove the flicker bulbs and start inserting the flicker sockets into the PVC candles.
Your best bet is to alternate longer and shorter PVC candles so that you can maximize the length of wire the longer PVC candles will need to get the sockets up to the rim of the PVC.
Don't let this photo fool you. We have already glued the PVC to the foam board. This photo was for reference only!
Flicker sockets are all inserted, no cutting involved.
Getting the sockets inserted without cutting can be a challenge if you cut your PVC too long.
I started my first socket in the shortest piece of PVC.
Don't let this photo fool you. We have already glued the PVC to the foam board. This photo was for reference only!
Break out the Hot Glue Gun!
Time to secure the flicker sockets and add that dripping wax effect!
Start by gluing the flicker sockets in place just below the top of each PVC candle.
When cooled, begin making wax by using circular motions gluing around the tops of each PVC candle and allowing the glue to run down the tops of the PVC onto the sides.
Continue this manner until you get the effect you like. I also added long strands of glue completely down the sides and onto the foam board for a nice drippy look.
Time to spray paint!
Be sure to use Latex spray paint on this project, or you might end up with your foam board being destroyed.
Just mist the whole thing with latex paint until you have a nice even coverage.
I also used painters tape to cover the flicker sockets prior to painting, so that it would not cause an electrical hazard when the bulbs are in the sockets and lit.
Here's the finished product!
Finally, when the paint dries, screw in the flicker bulbs and plug it up!
You now have flicker candles that work great for Crypts, Tombstones, or next to other props to fill a scene!
