Floating Candles in Glass Vases

I love everything about decorating with floating candles. First of all, the flicker of the fire as it reflects on the water can be spellbinding. Secondly, they can be coordinated with just about any motif because there are so many different items that can be put into the glass vases. And finally, they’re quick, affordable, and very easy to make. The trifecta of decorating!

Floating candles come in many different colors and shapes. Glass vases come in a multitude of sizes and shapes, too. Multiply those options by all the different items you can place inside the vase and the possibilities are virtually endless. Here are just a few floating candle ideas including glass vases filled with everything from flowers, to natural items such as pebbles, sticks, fruits and vegetables, to the totally unexpected – a fish in a floating candle bowl!

First, let’s explore a couple of ways to use flowers. The first example is from Decozilla. Clear decorative gem stones were placed in the vase of water first, followed by flowers then a floating candle. Classic.

Rhoda from Southern Hospitality recently toured the Biltmore Estate. Look at these lovely cylindrical vases filled with flowers and citrus slices. The votives sprinkled around the table really set off the beautiful tablescape. If this centerpiece is good enough for the Biltmore, it’s good enough for me!

The Perfect Palette proves that you don’t have to use tall vases for floating candles. Here are some lovely wedding table centerpieces that were made using tall stemware. The fresh flowers around the base enhance the whole look.

Hometone has several vase arrangement examples including these lovely jasmine stems floating in tall, slender vases. The title of the blog post couldn’t be more appropriate: “DIY vase arrangement ideas for lazy decorators.” Yep, that’s me.

No fresh flowers on hand? Julie from The Family CEO blog pruned some twigs in the dead of winter and put them in three pretty glass vases. The results are stunning and she swears it couldn’t be simpler, even for an “indoorsy” person;-)

Favors by Serendipity carries many decorating products including these lovely square vases. These are filled with short-stemmed flowers and natural pebbles. Putting three different sizes in one grouping is a classic design principle.

Ben Franklin Crafts provides simple instructions for arranging flowers, fruits, pine cones, and berries in floating candle vases. They suggest using marbles, small plastic toys, and glitter for kid parties.

The Bridal Shop used a different kind of base for their floating candle arrangement. They used a giant brandy snifter. What a great idea. They also had a list of ideas for filling the vases including seashells, marbles, Christmas ornaments, just to name a few.

Speaking of Christmas ornaments, it would be very easy to decorate for the holidays using cranberries, holly leaves, and pine tree trimmings like in this example from The DIY Playbook. I love how the cranberries float to the top and surround the floating candle.

Would you get a load of this fish centerpiece? Just Another Tree Hugger has concerns about the effect of the melting candle wax on the unsuspecting beta fish so I think you’d have to keep an eye on this one. You’re never supposed to leave a candle unattended anyway though, right?

From the ridiculous to the sublime, or should I say from the sublime to the ridiculous in this case, I hope you enjoyed all the floating candle decorating ideas. There are so many awesome glass vases available these days that I can’t wait to go shopping to find the perfect vase for my southwest decorating scheme. I know – maybe a giant tequila glass with “salt” glued around the brim then filled with green water. Maybe I can get a yellow floating candle to look like a lemon wedge for my margarita. Yep. Decorating with floating candles in glass vases is going to be so much fun.