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Have you ever seen those memes where it talks about DIY projects costing like $386 to make what you could have bought for $20? Sometimes that’s true. I mean, really. Once you buy all the stuff, and then buy part of it a second time because you screwed up your project the first time, you’re in way over your head. This project isn’t like that, because you can use old crap you have laying around that you shouldn’t have saved in the first place. I don’t really have room to talk, because I basically have a Hobby Lobby in my basement, which is helpful when you need to make something like this DIY Little Golden Book Banner and have everything for it already!
Enough about my basement! These DIY Recycled Candles are pretty simple to make. There’s really not a lot to it. I’m gonna give you a thousand pictures, so that the DIY challenged can do this simply, but if you’re crafty at all this will be easy peasy. If you do better with video, you can go watch the replay of the FB live video I did teaching you how to do this HERE.
You will need:
Old candles (tapered, unscented work best – you can even use ones that are partially burnt)
New Wick
New Wick Holders
Jar (any old jar will work – baby food jar, old candle jar, mason jar, spaghetti jar (that would be a HUGE candle))
Hot Glue Gun
Essential Oils
Large Pot
Large Stainless Steel Bowl
Water
Hot Pads
Silicone Tongs
Silicone Spatula
Needle Nose Pliers
These are the candles I used. I can usually find these at yard sales for a quarter a bundle, but I haven’t been yard-saling much this season (much to my dismay) and so I found these at a local thrift store for 50% off. Fifty cents a bundle isn’t bad. About 4 of these tapered candles fills my 8-10 oz jars for reference.
To melt the candles down, you will need to make a ghetto double-boiler. DO NOT use a real double boiler, or you will regret it once you try to clean all thw wax out of it. I put a large pot on the stove and fill it about half-full with water and put the burner on high. I set a large stainless steel bowl on top of the pot, and then put the candles in the bowl to melt. The colors from the candles will remain, so keep that in mind when mixing colors in your melting bowl.
Use your silicone tongs to remove the old wicks once the candles are completely melted. Once you rmeove the wicks, then you can add in the essential oils for scent. Keep in mind that any health benefits from the essential oils won’t exist after you dump them into this super hot wax. If you want the health benefits from them, you will still need to apply or diffuse them. Add the essential oils until you have the scent you want.
Next you will run the new wick through the whick holder. Only run it about half an inch through, like shown. Use a pair of needle nose pliers to squeeze the opening around the wick shut, then flatten the bottom circle back out with the pliers as well. If this doesn’t make sense, you can go watch the FB Live Video we did making these HERE.
Use hot glue on the bottom of the wick holder, and press it down into the bottom center of the jar you’re making into a candle. Once it’s dry, use scissors to cut the wick even with the top of the jar. You can alternatively leave an extra couple of inches of wick and wrap it around a pencil, and balance the pencil on top of the jar to hold the wick in place too.
It should look like this when you’re finished, and before you’ve added in the wax for your DIY Recycled Candles.
Use your funnel to carefully pour in the hot wax into your candle jar. Allow it to cool on a flat surface for several hours until the wax is completely solid. Don’t add a lid onto the jar until the wax is completely cooled. Now you’ve made your first of many DIY Recycled Candles!
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