Creative Containers for Soy Wax Candles
Clean What You've Got
Making soy wax candles at home is a fun craft. My only complaint was the amount of money involved up front. It is not expensive per candle, but to purchase all the supplies, especially fragrance, is very expensive.
When making candles, I found some days I was ready to create my newest soy wax candle, but I hadn't purchased new candle jars. To solve this dilemma, I decided to clean out an old candle which had lying around and see how it worked.
Here is how I did it.
- I removed all the old wax I could. I either saved it in an old jar or threw it away. I kept it far away from my plumbing.
- I placed the old candle in a pot with about 2 inches of water and brought the water and the candle to a boil.
- When the residual wax melted, I removed it from the pot using oven mitts and a tong.
- I placed the candle on a towel (that I didn't mind ruining) and poured the remaining wax into the jar or garbage.
- I then took a butter knife and removed the stick um on the bottom and pulled the wick out of the candle. The only time I had trouble with this was trying to remove wicks from votive candles. They were glued in with the stuff used to seal the space shuttle, so I had a very difficult time removing those wicks.
- I boiled the jar again, wiped it thoroughly and carefully with a paper towel to remove all excess residue.
- When the jar was clean, I polished it with Windex.
The results were remarkable! The container was as good as new!
Let Your Imagination Be Your Guide
There are so many different containers that can be used to make soy candles. After discovering the value of recycling my old candle containers, I decided to try using unconventional containers.
My coffee mug given to my by my daughter, as a souvenir from her trip to Washington, D.C. began leaking one morning as I was drinking my coffee. There was not a large crack but a very small one which caused coffee to leak slowly. Later in the day I decided that since the mug was not broken, I'd make a candle out of it. What better way to save a souvenir? I had a cappuccino scent which everyone in my home loves, so I created a candle from the cappuccino scent. It was heavenly and I can clean it and refill it as needed!
This is a frugal premise as well as a practical one. When you have an item that will not work for its intended purpose, try to re-purpose the item.
I also have small decorative flower pots which I'd planned to use for growing herbs. However, when I began using them, I noticed that they did not have drainage. Since that was the case, I used these for candles as well. I use a gardenia type fragrance and it adds great atmosphere to the kitchen and my home.
What creative containers can you use to make candles?
