Easy DIY Candy Heart Valentine’s Day Centerpieces

(This post was originally published on February 2, 2016 and has been updated and republished to include up to date photos, supplies, and tutorials)

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Happy Valentine's Day everyone! While I bedecked my husband’s office in heart shaped post it notes, dinner will be much sweeter with this lovely conversation heart centerpiece gracing our table! I originally made this beauty years ago at my first Valentine’s Tea party for my friends, so now I’m remaking it for pretty new blog photos and to decorate with for this and my future Valentine’s Day events!

For my revisiting of this centerpiece, I used the same glass cylinders that I had for years, but this time measured how much each bag of hearts filled up the cylinders, as well as filling each candle holder of them such that the floating candles were all the same height from the tops of their cylinders. I loved that this gave the floating candles the height of pillar candles, without the price tag and far more whimsical candy vibes!

For this centerpiece, I swallowed my pride and bought my candy hearts before the big day, but if you are looking for a deal, buy your hearts the day after and make this centerpiece for a fraction of the cost next Valentine’s Day! I’ll be keeping my candy hearts after we are done with our Valentines celebrations, not to eat but to try new fun decorations and party ideas with them for future holiday fun!

SUPPLIES:

CENTERPIECE SUPPLIES:

Glass Cylinders: I absolutely love glass cylinder candle holders for centerpieces, in fact these ones are still with me from my own wedding and I find a way to decorate with them at every party I throw! When I originally made these centerpieces, I did smaller 3 cylinder groups and larger 6 cylinder groups like the pictures above to decorate the bars and table of my Valentine’s Tea Party, so while I show my tutorial for six candle holders the size and design are up to you! It's more important that the cylinders are different heights, to add different levels for your candles and dimension to your centerpiece. For my larger centerpiece, I used two each of 6” and 7.5” cylinders, with one 9” and 10.5” for the taller candle holders, while with my smaller 3 cylinder centerpieces I used one 7.5”, 9”, and 10.5” candle holders.

Candy Conversation Hearts: I found that each bag of conversation hearts filled up my cylinders about 4.5”, so a good rule of thumb on ordering is one bag for every short candle holder (6 - 7.5”) and two for every taller candle holder (9-10.5”). I end up storing my hearts in gallon freezer bags after decorating with them, so I can use them again next valentine’s season!

3 Inch Floating Candles: to top each cylinder once it's full of candy!

SUPPLIES LIST:
[for 1 - 6 cylinder centerpiece]

Glass Cylinders x 6
Conversation Hearts x 8 bags
Floating Candles x 6

DIRECTIONS

1. Clean out all the glass cylinders you plan to use. Make sure they are completely dry before continuing, you don't want disintegrated hearts!

2. Divide the candy hearts among the glass cylinders, filling each cylinder so that the candy hearts reach to 3” below the top of the candle holder . Using your hand, form an indent in the middle to nest your floating candle.

3. Top each cylinder of candy heart with a floating candle, placing it with its wick and gently pressing and rotating it on top of the hearts to nestle it into the candy without large gaps. Once all your cylinders are made, its time to arrange them on your table.

4. Start with your tallest cylinders in the middle, then work out from them, arranging your 6” and 7.5” cylinders on either side of the middle candle holders, opposite of each other in a zig zag pattern as shown; or arrange them in any way you think prettiest. Light your candles when you’re ready and your centerpiece is complete!

The best part of these centerpieces is they don't create a lot of extra clutter and you can always save your candy hearts for next year and make them again! These will certainly be part of my Valentines décor for years to come and I can’t wait to see what other simple and sweet projects they inspire!