DIY Origami Candle Holder

I experimented with paper folding again the other day and made these diy folded vellum candle holders. I've had some sheets of Maggie Holmes vellum I've been holding onto for way too long and finally decided to make something with it.

Those of you who have been following along for a while may recognise them from this diy showing you how to make origami paper vases. I made these candle holders in exactly the same way except I pinched in the top make these geometric faceted shapes.

PLEASE NOTE: These candle holders should not be used with real candles or tea lights. Please use battery operated candles only.

Supplies: 12x12 sheets of vellum, a bone folder, glue, a paintbrush and some battery operated tealights or color changing tealights.

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If you’re new to origami make sure to check out these 3 Basic Origami Folds For Beginners.

How To Make A Candle Holder Out Of Paper.

1. Take your vellum and fold it in half. Fold and crease using a bone folder to get a crisp fold.

2. Open the vellum back out and fold the edges in to meet at the center fold. Open back out. Your square should now be divided into 4 equal sections.

3. Next you need to divide these 4 sections in half to make 8 equal sections. To do this lay your paper flat and fold the 1st of your 4 sections in half. Take the edge of your paper and fold it in to meet the 1st crease.

4. Open your vellum out and take the 1st edge again but this time fold it so it meets the last fold. Open your paper out, rotate 180 degrees and repeat step 3 on the other side. This time when you lay your paper flat it will now to divided into 8 equal sections.

5. You now need to begin making the diagonal folds. Start by making sure all your folds are running vertically (top to bottom).Take your first corner and fold it so the edge of the paper meets your 1st vertical fold and forms a triangle.

6. Open your vellum back out. This time take the same corner and fold it to meet the 3rd vertical fold.

7. Open out and fold the same corner to meet the 5th vertical fold.

8. Open out and fold to meet the 7th fold.

9. Repeat steps 5-8 on the remaining 3 corners. You should now have a diagonal cross hatch pattern covering your entire paper with 8 vertical folds.

10. If you want to make multiple candle holders out of 1 sheet of vellum you can cut along the vertical folds. I cut along the 3rd fold to make a smaller candle holder and a medium one. If you want to make a single tall candle holder ignore this step.

11. As you gently curl your paper the geometric shape should start to form. Roll the vellum to form a tub and match up the pattern. Mark where the vellum overlaps so you know where to apply the glue.

12. Glue your tube together. I applied a thin layer of glue, waited until it went tacky and then held my tube together for a couple of minutes. If you're having trouble getting it to stick you could use a couple of paperclips to hold it together while it dries.

13. Trim away any excess so your tube will stand up straight.

14. Gently press your tube into shape following the folds and creases.

15. Press the top of tube together to form a triangle. The top should naturally fold in with the sides becoming the top.

16. Apply glue to each of the edges where the triangle meets. This part requires a little bit of patience. Wait until the glue has started to dry and gone tacky before sticking the top together and holding for a couple of minutes. To help it dry a little quicker I held it together with one hand and used my hairdryer on the cool setting with the other being careful not to burn my fingers.

17. Once dry place over your battery operated tealight and enjoy.

If you have any trouble with anything above don't forget to check out my diy origami vases as they use most of the same steps and show how to make the initial folds in more detail and you can always pop any questions in the comments below.

If you are going to make these I recommend practicing on some scrap paper to begin with. It can be a bit tricky mastering some of the folds and you don't want to waste your pretty vellum on a mistake.

I've displayed mine on top of the fireplace. I love the different colours from the colour changing candles and the vellum has a lovely translucent quality to it. They look so pretty lit up in the evening.

What do you think?