Decorative Decal Pillar Candles

I finished my first Christmas gift project last night: Martha Stewart Living's Decorative Decal Pillar Candles.  The website has the beautiful clip art that you can print onto a decal sheet, which you spray with clear varnish (in a well-ventilated area!).  Then apply the paper to the candles and matchboxes: very simple!  I also covered a couple matchboxes with glitter.

Finding the matchbooks was actually the hardest part, nothing in drug stores, restaurant supply stores, etc...Recently, The New York Times wrote about the resurgence in matchbox popularity as "a new old freebie" even though smoking isn't allowed in restaurants here anymore.  So, I finally walked into a famous restaurant not to be named, lest they be overrun with matchbox requests, and they were very accommodating and generously gave me 6!

I'm planning on giving these as Christmas gifts, but tested one out to make sure it didn't burn through the paper and it worked out fine.  Then I added a glass coaster and ribbon and voila: fini!