Ready for a bit of DIY love? :)
 A little town at night.. isn’t it sweet?!

There are a few tricks to making this DIY a success, all to do with finding the perfect image.

1. What you’re looking for is a picture of a house/castle/building that’s taken front-on (perspective works, but not as well). You could take it from your favourite magazine, an old calendar, or even print some from the internet. Up to you! In fact, you could even print a photo of your house if you have one!
2. The print needs to have a bit of space either side of the house to wrap around to the back of the votive.
3. It’s best to choose a picture that is higher in the middle than at the sides, and sides that are about the same height.
4. Choose a house that has some windows visible.
5. If possible, find a picture that has nothing printed on the back. If you can’t, not to worry – it could add a nice effect (like mine did)!

I was lucky enough to have found some old photo books at a market in Germany that hold some of the coolest black and white photos from the War era.. perfect for a project like this one!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Step 1: You want to start cutting and finish cutting at around the same height on either side of your picture. Use the scissors to cut straight in to where your house begins, cut around the top of the house, and cut straight back out to the edge at around the same height as you cut in. Make sense? Maybe this will help:

Step 2: Trim away any other areas you don’t want, but don’t trim the sides yet.
Step 3: Using your Xacto knife and a cutting mat, carefully cut out any windows you want the light to shine through. I found at this stage (because my paper was a bit fragile) it was easiest to press the knife in, rather than drag it.

Step 4: Wrap the image into a cylinder (size is up to you) and sticky tape it together. Trim around the top if it doesn’t quite match, as well as any excess where you joined it.
Step 5: Add your battery operated tea light, and wait until it gets dark!

Note: Because paper (of course) is highly flammable, the use of battery operated candles over real ones is imperative. However, if you would rather use real candles, try wrapping the image around the outside of a small glass jar and use that to hold your candle (but still keep an eye on it) :)

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