DIY Advent Candle using Posca Pens

I know I’m a few days late with this DIY Advent Candle project, but it’s so quick and easy to do, you could be burning your candle in less than half an hour!

DIY Advent Candle

To make this DIY advent candle I used an old pillar candle (that I must have bought at some stage over the years, and found at the back of a cupboard!) and Posca pens… and that’s it!

I love Posca pens because they can write on virtually any surface, including a wax candle! You may remember some of my other Posca projects – Story Stones, and Tic-Tac-Toe Stones. I have also used them to write on glass, ceramic, paper, and wood. They such fab pens, and if you are into arts and crafts, then you really do need to get some in your kit!

In time for the Christmas holidays, Posca have released an awesome ‘Make Today Kit‘  (£24.99) which includes specially selected Posca pens in colours and sizes to suit a range of makes, image templates featuring exclusive designs for you to use and reuse, a handy booklet with step by step projects, and helpful crafty advice and drawing guides. You can also find more inspirational projects and tips here: www.uniball.co.uk/posca-make-today.

Before I show you how to make your own DIY Advent Candle, here are my top tips for using Posca pens…

TIPS

• You have to shake the pens to get the ink flowing when you first use them. I found you have to shake REALLY well! Do this before the kids use the pens so that they’re ready to go.
• Colours can be layered on top of each other, but you must wait for the layer to dry otherwise they become smudged – unless that’s the style you’re going for!
• If you do mix colours, make sure you remove the different colour from the pen nib by scribbling on a scrap piece of paper.
• Push the pen nib down a few tips to allow the ink to flow out more – handy for covering larger areas (although takes a bit longer to dry)
• If you make a mistake, wait for it to dry and draw over it it!
• Use light and dark of the same colour to add outlines or create depth.
• Use pictures from books, magazines, comics, and online for drawing inspiration.
• Designs can be as simple or as intricate as your skills allow!
• To remove the ink/paint from skin, use warm soapy water. I also found that hand gel works too.

To use the design I’ve demonstrated here, you will need…

• An 18 – 25cm / 7 – 10″ white or cream pillar candle – buy here in the UK | buy here in the US
• Red, green, and gold Posca pens (fine nib) – buy here in the UK | buy here in the US
• Ruler – buy here in the UK | buy here in the US

What to do…

The increments marked along the candle will depend on the height of your candle. My candle was 18cm (because that’s what I had!) so I measured ½cm for each day – that’s about 0.2″. If you have 25cm high candle, then mark them at centimetre increments. Or you can work it out yourself on a piece of paper first before marking your candle.

I marked little dots along the candle first before filling in the days and other decoration. I found that a wax candle isn’t so easy to clean off if you make a mistake, so you want to try and get it right first time!

Draw lines about 1cm long outwards from each dot, alternating sides – see my photo above for reference. Then add in the numbers – starting at 1 at the top, and going odd numbers down one side, and even on the other.

To draw the holly sprigs, use a red Posca pen to draw the berries in a group of three, and the use a green Posca pen to draw the spiky leaves. You can of course add your own designs!

If you have space at the bottom of your candle, you could draw something here, or write a seasonal greeting. I wrote Merry Christmas in gold Posca pen.

And that’s it! How easy?

We’ve got more Christmas Crafts for Adults for you—why not take a look next?

Here are some more ideas from the Posca Make Today Kit – I hope it inspires you to get creative this Christmas!

This post is part of my long-running Create the Holidays series on The Purple Pumpkin Blog. Since 2012, I’ve shared free printables, crafts, recipes, and more for Christmas and the Winter Holidays. While I don’t officially run the series anymore, seasonal inspiration will still be here! Browse past Create the Holidays (formerly Create Christmas) years: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012.

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