Here’s a creative craft that’s also a fun way to dress up an Italian celebration—or just make pizza night special! Put a modern spin on tradition by turning a chianti bottle into a candle holder.

Inspired by the tradition of old-school Italian restaurants turning chianti bottles in baskets into candle holders, a DIY chianti candle holder gives your table a molto italiano look for Italian festivities or any other occasion.

You can make a DIY chianti candle holder out of almost any type of wine bottle. Just choose a drippy candle—they come in no-drip and drip versions—to get that classic, wax-covered look. Get creative and put your own spin on it!

To make your DIY chianti candle holder,

1. Pick a color—or several! You can make rainbow colors your theme, go for the gold, or match the color of the wine with burgundy accents. You can choose different colors for the bottle and candle itself, make sure they’re the same color, or use similar shades of the color for an ombré look.

2. Find a drippy candle. To get this look, we melted a drip candle (they’re described as drip or non-drip) all the way down a decorated bottle, and then added a second one. A non-drip candle won’t create these kinds of drips. Some people prefer the cleaner look of a non-drip candle, but if you want a really drippy look and can only find non-drip candles, melt a few down first so they drip over the decorated bottle before wedging in the candle you’ll light at dinner.

3. Dress up the bottle. Once you’ve got your color and candle in mind—and before you melt your candle—you can decorate the bottle with paint or glitter. Cover the entire bottle or take a paint pen and write Italian well-wishes like Cin Cin or Tanti Auguri (which means “Many Wishes” and works for any occasion from birthdays to anniversaries).

 

4. Add some extras! Use our printable paper accessories to dress up the rest of the table. You can print our downloadable banners with Italian toasts on them, or write your own well-wishes in the blank versions.

5. Keep the theme going! Add our grapevine banners to smaller votives to bring them into the Italian wine theme, and add table accessories in your chosen color. That could mean pomegranates or walnuts painted gold if you went with a gold theme, for example.

 

6. Bring in some charms. Print out our downloadable wine charms so everyone can tell their wine glasses apart. For the how-to, click here.

 

7. Finally, set the scene! You can serve Italian food, play Italian music, or make it a pizza-and-chianti movie night by watching films that mention chianti. There are more movies than you’d think in which chianti played a role, from the cheerful (the original Parent Trap!) to the creepy (The Silence of the Lambs).

 

As a thoughtful DIY gift, save a bottle of wine from a friend’s birthday party or bridal shower and turn that into a candle holder souvenir. Whatever bottle you choose and however you decorate it, it’s a fun way to enjoy your wine long after you’ve drunk the last sip.

 

Chianti Candle Holder How-To

What You’ll Need

• Chianti bottle (we used Santa Margherita Chianti)
• Downloadable Chianti Candle Holder Banners
• Paper
• Scissors
• Gold marker, pen, or paint pen for adding golden touches (You can use any color you like)
• Drip candles
• Optional: Metallic spray paint, glitter, and glue

How-To

STEP 1: Pour your wine into glasses or a decanter to empty the bottle. If you’re decorating your bottle with glitter, cover the bottle with craft glue thinned with water and applied with a paintbrush, or spray adhesive, and sprinkle on two coats of glitter. If you’re making a painted bottle like ours, skip straight to step two.

STEP 2: If you’re decorating your bottle with glitter, cover the bottle with craft glue thinned with water and applied with a paintbrush, or spray adhesive, and sprinkle on two coats of glitter. If you’re making a painted bottle like ours, skip straight to step three.

STEP 3: Melt the bottom of your candle until it’s soft enough to wedge into the bottom, then light it so that it starts dripping down the bottle. When it has dripped enough, blow out the candle so you can keep decorating. (If you don’t have drippy candles, you may have to melt a few candles to get good drips, then relight another one.)

STEP 4: Use a marker, paint, or paint pen to dress up the bottle and the drips. You might also paint fruit, notes, or other decorative accents for the table.

STEP 5: Download our Chianti Candle Holder Banners, print, and cut out, and cut out. Arrange your candleholder on the decorated table and light the candle to start the celebration!

For fun wine charms to go with your Italian-themed dinner, click here.

This post was created in partnership with Santa Margherita Wines.