How to Make Existing Candles Grubby
- 1). Lay a heat resistant tile on your work surface. The tile has to be as big or bigger than the candle you're working on. Center two pencils on the tile, parallel to each other. Place them 2 inches apart for a pillar candle and 1 inch apart for a taper or votive candle. Tape the pencils to the tile with the masking tape. The pencils are the braces to keep your candle from rolling away.
- 2). Center the length of your candle over the length of the pencil braces. The candle does not need to fit perfectly between the braces. It only needs to be secured from rolling.
- 3). Hold an embossing heat gun 4 inches away from the surface of the candle that is facing up. Sweep the gun from one end of the candle to the other for 10 seconds. The wax on the candle will become shiny as it melts.
- 4). Sprinkle ground cinnamon over the wet wax. Allow the wax to harden. The surface will have a mottled, grubby appearance.
- 5). Turn the candle. Heat and apply cinnamon all the way around the candle.
- 6). Heat and apply two more coats of cinnamon around the candle. The heated wax will seep through the cinnamon making it wet for each new coat.
- 7). Stand the candles upright on the tile. If the candle is a taper candle, place it in a candlestick holder. Heat and apply cinnamon in the same way as the sides. Wax dripping down the sides adds to the grubby appearance.
- 8). Heat the entire surface once more to seal the last application of cinnamon.
Source...