Oscar party decorating | How About Orange

February 11, 2013

Oscar party decorating

If you need a quick DIY decorating idea for an Academy Awards party, you might like Ty's film-wrapped candles. This project uses old negatives wrapped around flameless LED candles. (Get them 3 for $1 at Dollar Tree.) Me, I'd be tempted to wrap film around the outside of glass candle holders and use real tea lights inside. I know you oughtn't, since film is flammable (as folks aggressively pointed out in the comments on Ty's project) but I like to live dangerously. I've got a million tea lights and zero LED candles.

Update: I wrapped some photo negatives around a glass votive holder and put a real candle inside to test it (see image). Burned it for over two hours. The glass got lukewarm to the touch, but nowhere near hot enough to melt anything. The glass was pretty thick, so that helps. I'm not telling you to do this. Don't sue me if you start your house on fire. I'm just reporting my experience; do with it what you will! And never leave a burning candle unattended.

20 comments:

holly said...

This is such a neat idea! I miss real film! Thanks for sharing.

neongreenbike said...

This is amazing idea! And I will surely incorporate it in my next Friday Movie Night... or Oscar watching night.

Grandma G said...

Hmmm... maybe they might melt onto the glass if they got warm enough? That could be fun to get off.

Mum

Kirstabelle said...

Such a lovely idea!! I need to give this a go, who cares if its flammable lol living dangerously!! I am sure if you use glass holders it won't be as bad.

Kirstabelle xxx

Http://www.kirstabelle11.blogspot.co.uk

Anonymous said...

I want to be your symbolic aggressive one. Hey it's flammable and we all gonna burn ourselves just because of you!

Love u.

Jessica Jones said...

Oh thank you! I've been waiting for someone to comment on the safety hazard aspect! This post wouldn't be complete without at least one comment like yours. :)

Emily said...

I've got to pitch this idea to my boss! I work at a tiny independent movie theater and we do a big oscar party with LED tealights in the theater, and we have PLENTY of old film. It would be perfect!

Thanks for sharing!

Jessica Jones said...

It's 5:38 pm and I just lit up a real tea light in a glass holder wrapped with film. I'll keep you posted. If you don't hear from me within a few hours, it means I burned up.

Grandma G said...

Methinks your neighbors won't be too happy if you do... and I don't mean they'll just be sad with your passing.

Mum

Jessica Jones said...

I guess it would be inconsiderate if I burned down the whole building. However, I'm not worried.

Grandma G said...

I am. That's my duty, right?

Your mum

Anonymous said...

Being a grownup means lighting real candles with real flame!

Grandma G said...

Just exactly how many hours do you consider "a few"? I need to know when to start worrying.

Mum

Jessica Jones said...

I'm okay, I'm okay!!! :) I just blew the candle out. The glass got lukewarm on the outside, but nowhere near melting the film or catching anything on fire. I'd totally use real grownup fire at my own party.

Ros said...

Someone posted a similar but more permanent idea on Ikeahackers yesterday: http://www.ikeahackers.net/2013/02/movie-lamp.html

Jessica Jones said...

Wow, that would be quite the party conversation piece! Cool.

a pop of inspiration said...

Such a great idea! I'm definitely going to re-use my old negatives to create this effect. I'm sure it looks 'magical' during the evening time :)

Kate Frishman said...

Oh, I love this idea! Time to go digging for old negatives.

Kate@flifkincottage.blogspot.com

Suzanne said...

Love the lights and all of the disclaimers.

neongreenbike said...

Hi!
Just wanted to let you know that I created a link on my blog to this post as part of my weekly web finds and ideas.
Here you can see it: http://neongreenbike.blogspot.com/2013/02/sundays-coffee-and-cookies.html

Dora