Candle

A candle 4¼ in tall: a quarter of a sheet rolled into a cylinder, with a lid and a white border with “wax” drips on top, and the flame colored with markers. A red strip wrapped twice around is for Christmas; without it, with a cat face on the side, it’s for Halloween.

• Easy
• 2 Letter sheets
• 8 “wax” drips
• 2 ribbon wraps

Make it with your phone cameraLesson code: 2109

On VanGami the template appears over your sheet through your phone camera — no printer needed. Trace it, cut, fold and glue. Below are all the steps in text.

What you’ll need

• Letter sheet — office paper, 80 gsm (20 lb)
• Markers
• Pencil — and eraser
• One more Letter sheet — office paper, 80 gsm (20 lb): a quarter sheet becomes the cylinder
• Ruler — 8–12 in
• Scissors — small
• Glue stick — or PVA glue
• Clear tape — if the cylinder seam comes apart
• Black marker — for the face, if the candle is for Halloween
• Glass — phone stand

Steps

Trace

1. Lid and flame: outlines. Trace the lid with its ten tabs and the flame using a solid line. The line along the flame’s tail is solid too: it splits the tail into two legs.
2. Slit. On the lid, draw a solid line from the corner between the tabs through the center and almost ⅜ in beyond it: this is the slit for the flame.
3. Fold lines. Draw a dashed line at the bases of the ten tabs and across the left leg of the flame; across the right leg, a dash-dot line: you’ll fold that leg toward you. Don’t cut along these lines.
4. Draw. Inside the flame, draw two smaller flames, one inside the other, and under the flame a narrow wick down to the dashed line.
5. Border: outline. Trace the strip with the “wax” drips using a solid line. It’s half of the border; you’ll cut out the second half together with it. The cat face under the strip is only needed if the candle is for Halloween.

Color

6. Color the flame. Color the big flame red, the middle one orange, the small one yellow, and the wick brown. The legs below the dashed line and the lid stay white.

Cut

7. Cut out: lid and flame — 2 pcs. Cut out the lid and the flame; make the corners between the tabs with two short cuts toward each other. Then cut the lid along the line from the corner to the end of the slit, and the flame’s tail lengthwise down the middle, up to the dashed line.
8. Back of the flame. Flip the flame over and color the back the same way, by eye: the candle will be seen from every side.
9. Border — both halves at once. Fold the rest of the white sheet in half lengthwise, long edge to long edge, with the lines on the outside. Cut out the border through both layers: you’ll get two halves.
10. Quarter sheet for the candle. Fold the second sheet in half, short edges together, and once more the same way: you get a quarter sheet the size of a card. Unfold it and cut along both folds — you need one quarter, 4¼ × 5½ in.
11. Red strip. From what’s left of the white sheet, use a ruler to cut a ⅜ in strip along the long edge, the full length of the sheet, and color it red on one side.

Roll

12. Roll the cylinder. Roll the quarter sheet into a tube 4¼ in tall, with the short edges overlapping by ⅜ in. Apply glue in a strip along the edge, press it down and hold for half a minute.
13. Halloween — the face. The Halloween candle goes without the ribbon. Cut out the face, color it in with the black marker, leaving two white eyes with pupils, and glue it to the side of the candle, opposite the seam.
14. Ribbon in a spiral. Glue the end of the red strip onto the seam at the bottom edge and run it diagonally upward, turning the cylinder. After one turn it’s on the seam again, at mid-height; after two, at the top edge.

Assemble

15. Flame into the lid. Bend the flame’s legs in opposite directions and apply glue to their tops. Slide the flame into the slit from the side, starting at the edge of the lid, as far as it goes — legs under the lid — and press them from below.
16. Fold down the lid tabs. Fold all ten tabs down along the dashed line and crease each fold with your fingernail: the lid becomes a little cap.
17. Lid onto the candle. Apply glue in a ⅜ in strip along the top edge of the cylinder, on the outside. Put the lid on — flame facing front, cylinder seam at the back — and press the tabs against the wall one at a time.
18. Border with drips. Apply glue to one half of the border on the pencil-line side and wrap it around the front of the candle top: top edge flush with the lid, tabs hidden. Glue the second half on the back, with its ends overlapping the first.

Done. The candle is done. For Halloween, make the same one but color the quarter sheet orange: no ribbon, with a cat face on the side.

Make it with your phone camera

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