Fun With Floating Candle Centerpieces!

With the wedding season approaching fast, I wanted to share a few simple centerpieces that your guests will love! These are also great if you're having a themed party, especially a beach party! You could replace the shells and sand with river rock or marbles, just about anything you can place in water will work in these!

The first thing I did was wash everything I planned to use in a sink of hot soapy water and dried it, this ensures that any dust, debris, sand, salt etc. is gone before you place it in the water. The sand needed to be rinsed multiple times to prevent the water from becoming completely clouded. I would recommend filling these the day before a big event if you plan to use the sand so that the water is not cloudy. I rinsed the sand for mine until the water ran clear.

For my first centerpiece I will make an Ivy Bowl with Blue Glass Marbles. This is simple yet the way the marbles "Glow" onto the area around it is simply mesmerizing as you can see. The glow from the flame illuminates the marbles casting colored images below and next to it. This design is very visually interesting, especially in the dark! For a wedding, it would be perfect to try and match the color of the marbles to the colors of the wedding and or wedding party!

The supplies needed to create this beautiful floating candle bowl are as follows:

• An Ivy Bowl (can be purchased at most Dollar Stores or Craft Stores) 
• Marbles (these also can be purchased at most Dollar and Craft Stores) 
• Soybean Oil 
• Floating Oil Candle Discs and Wick 
• Tap Water

Directions: Fill your Ivy Bowl with the desired amount of marbles, then fill with cool tap water leaving it about 1/2" from your desired fill line. Now pour soybean oil over the top. Remember oil and water don't mix, so this will always float. Now take your floating candle disc and insert one of the wicks into the opening in the center, float on the oil and light.

The second centerpiece will use the same basic pieces as the Marble Centerpiece except this time we will be using shaped glass embeds. The visual appeal of this one is just as beautiful as the marbles and again will cast a beautiful colored and shaped shadow when burning. This particular centerpiece would be excellent for a Beach or Hawaiian themed party or wedding of any kind or anything in the summer! Look at the fabulous shadows the light casts onto the table below with this!

The supplies needed to create this beautiful floating candle bowl are as follows:

• An Ivy Bowl (can be purchased at most Dollar Stores or Craft Stores) 
• Bag of Sealife & Shells Glass Embeds  
• Soybean Oil 
• Floating Oil Candle Discs and Wick 
• Tap Water

Directions: Fill your Ivy Bowl with the desired amount of Glass Embeds, taking care to position them to achieve the best light flow, then fill with cool tap water leaving it about 1/2" from your desired fill line. Now pour soybean oil over the top. Again, remember oil and water don't mix, so the oil will always float. Now take your floating candle disc and insert one of the wicks into the opening in the center, float on the oil and light.

The third Ivy Bowl Centerpiece is a bit more unique in that it has actual seashells and sand dollars in it. This also has a unique shadow that casts as it burns but instead of being illuminated, the actual shadow of the shells is revealed. The shells glow beautifully with the light from the flame. This is perfect again for a Beach theme or any party in the summertime. The nice thing about these centerpieces is every one will be a bit different and placement of the items within can change everything! Here you can see that amazing shadow!

The supplies needed to create this beautiful floating candle bowl are as follows:

• An Ivy Bowl (can be purchased at most Dollar Stores or Craft Stores) 
• Natural Sea Shells 
• Natural Sand Dollars 
• Soybean Oil 
• Floating Oil Candle Discs and Wick 
• Tap Water

Directions: Fill your Ivy Bowl with the desired amount of seashells, taking care to position them to achieve the best light shadow, then add a few random sand dollars so that they will be noticed. The sand dollars like to "float" until they are saturated so may need adjusting after. Now, fill with cool tap water leaving it about 1/2" from your desired fill line. Now pour soybean oil over the top. Again, remember oil and water don't mix, so the oil will always float. Now take your floating candle disc and insert one of the wicks into the opening in the center, float on the oil and light.

The last centerpiece I made I used a different bowl, which was about twice the size and one of our floating candle holders (these need a larger area because of their depth!). I placed a tea light candle in this but you could certainly pour candles directly into them as well. This centerpiece is a bit more work, mostly because of the sand but really has an "authentic" beach/ocean feel to it. Just remember to rinse, rinse and rinse the sand until you have removed all the debris and dust. The biggest thing with these is being able to fill them the day before so the water isn't cloudy.

The supplies needed to create this beautiful floating candle bowl are as follows: 

• A Medium Size Glass Bowl (can purchase at most Dollar Stores or Craft Stores) 
• Sand 
• Medium Size Seashells   
• Tea Light Candles 
• Floating Glass Candle Holder 
• Tap Water

Directions: Fill your Bowl with the desired amount of sand, be sure to rinse well!! Now add the shells taking care to position them to achieve the best light shadow, so that they will be noticed. Now, fill with cool tap water, I poured over a spoon into the side, over a shell so I wouldn't disturb or stir up the sand. Be sure to leave about 2" from the top to place in the candle holder. Now place your tea light in the holder, place in the water, and adjust the tea light so that it is level and light. 

These candle centerpieces were a lot of fun to create and will create a bit of a splash at your next summer time event or wedding! Be sure to show future summer brides the fun things that can be done using some shells, marbles, glass embeds and a little bit of imagination!

Happy Candle Making!
Flicker