This Dollar Tree DIY Turns Pool Noodles Into Stunning Holiday Candle Decor

There's nothing cozier than lighting candles around the house to create a warm, comfy ambiance, but when the candles have differing aromas, they can cause a major headache. Holiday candles, in particular, always have the sweetest scents that should be lit one at a time. While you can light unscented candles, they're not typically visually appealing if they're not in holiday-decorated candle jars. Even though you can DIY your own candles and holders to make them festive, they only last through the season. Instead, @dollartree_crafts posted a video of TikTok where they used pool noodles to create faux candles by spray painting them and adding light-up flames. It makes the perfect holiday candle that you can reuse for years.

Most of the materials needed can be found at Dollar Tree, such as a couple of pool noodles, a hot glue gun, battery-operated candle flames, ribbon, and a festive basket. You'll also need rubber bands, an Xacto knife, a pen, and spray paint. Dollar Tree uses metallic gold spray paint for their faux candles, but you can use whichever color that complements the rest of your embellishments. If you want to use the metallic gold spray paint, you can find it at Walmart for $5.98. We love this DIY because it's easy to make and adds the right amount of coziness to a room without the real flame or sweet scents.

Set up all your materials on your crafts table for ample project space. To begin, cut your pool noodles into sections that are all various sizes. You want some that are tall and short. Then, stack the noodles together, ensuring they're level at the bottom, and wrap a rubber band around them to keep them in place. Place them in your basket so that you know how many will fit perfectly. Using your hot glue gun, glue all the noodles together and let them dry. While the noodles are drying, outline the battery-operated flames on top of the pool noodle's opening and cut out the outline so the flame fits inside. Create the illusion of wax dripping along the sides of the noodles with your hot glue gun and let it dry down.

Next, take your pool noodle candles outside and spray paint the entire exterior. Once the spray paint has dried, place your candles in your festive basket and decorate it with glittery ribbon and berry cluster stems. Finally, display your new holiday candle in your living room or use it as a beautiful centerpiece for your dining table. When the holiday season is over, properly store your holiday décor in a box in your attic or garage so that you can reuse it for many years to come.

Pool noodles have become a trendy item for all DIY projects because of their affordability and versatility. Sometimes, they can get sold out, especially if multiple folks are DIYing their holiday decorations. Instead of waiting to see when pool noodles will restock, you can use foam pipe insulation as an alternative. Home Depot has pipe insulation for $1.78. You'll simply need to glue the slit closed with your hot glue gun.

On the other hand, personalize your holiday candle by adding pictures of your loved ones to the basket. Amazon has small wooden card holders that can also hold pictures and would fit in the holiday basket. You can also remove the wood from a few and stick the metal stand into the back of the pool noodles to display more photos from a higher angle. In addition, you can paint the candles an entirely different color and show off your creative skills by painting holiday designs, such as poinsettias, berries, tiny wreaths, garlands, etc., on the candles. Instead of spray painting the pool noodles gold, paint them white and add colorful elements. Or, if you're not an artist, cover them in glitter or add festive stickers to the pool noodle candles to spruce them up.