The symbolic seven candles of Kwanzaa are an illumination that warms the heart of our winter celebration. Our elegant candleholder can be adapted to suit any seasonal soiree (try arranging nuts around a flowerpot tray for a gorgeous solstice centerpiece), and although it looks fancy, it can easily serve as a group party craft as well.
| Prep Time: Afternoon or Evening | |
| What you need: | |
| One 14-inch length of 1- by 2-inch wood (from a craft store
or lumberyard)
Acrylic paint (we used silver) and paintbrush Tacky glue, cotton swab One 1 1/2-inch-long 5/8-inch cap screw Seven 5/8-inch hex nuts (we used silver-colored steel) Glitter, sequins, gemstones, and other decorations (optional) Seven 8-inch taper candles (1 black, 3 red, and 3 green), trimmed to fit nuts Candle shaver (optional) | |
| Seasons: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa | |
| Materials: paints, wax, wood | |
| Instructions: | |
| 1. | Trim and sand the wood, if necessary, then paint it and let it dry. |
| 2. | Next, evenly space the seven screws and two of the nuts along the wood, gluing the one screw-and-nut combo to the middle of the base and spacing (and gluing) 3 nuts evenly on each side. |
| 3. | Use a cotton swab to spread a little glue on the threads of each nut and attach nuts to screws with a single turn, leaving enough room for a candle to fit inside. |
| 4. | Decorate with glued-on glitter, sequins, and gemstones, if you like, and let the kinara dry. Add candles, shaved to fit if necessary. Arrange the candles so that the black one is in the middle, with red and green on either side. |
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