Terrarium-inspired DIY candlesticks for display

Hi everyone! I have a fun project to share with you that I am going to be demonstrating at the blogger event at the Randolph Street Market Midwest DIY blogger round up. I’ll also be signing books both days, so come out and say hi!

I always see fun vintage bottles at the flea market for a few dollars and I thought might be kind of fun to do a twist on a terrariums and dioramas, by adding little scenes in them and then you could use them as DIY candlesticks for candle display as a table setting or just something fun to add a touch of whimsy to your decor.

I started by raiding the model railroad aisle at the hobby store. Bottles with longer necks are harder and you have to pick your diorama by what will fit in the bottle. If you don’t have vintage bottles, you could use recycled jars or even new ones from the craft store.

The biggest thing is to make sure you plan this out as it could take over a week for the glue to dry, especially if the bottle has a tight neck on it. I made the mistake of starting this using white craft glue. After completing two, I realized that the glue would take forever to dry, and I switched to clear glue. This way if it doesn’t dry right away, you can’t tell.

The kids helped me with these, and we places everything with long tweezers and chopsticks. Talk about an exercise in patience!

It was kind of fun to make up little stories.

How fun is that?

Once they were done,I decided to use these wood napkin rings and candle cups from Michaels.

I used them to add an accent and dress up the bottles.

It was kind of cool how they just fit together for a really interesting look.

They look pretty grouped together. I love the wood tops.

I found gold candles to add as accents. I don’t burn my candles, so mine will be for display. I would recommend using battery operated candles with these.

I placed them on wood rounds for varying height and interest.

I love how interesting they would be at dinner to look at, and you could put any little scene inside. Here are some cute, itsy bitsy things I found on Amazon that would be fun to use, just click on the picture to view them on Amazon.

Here are some cute little people