Making container candles from leftover wax using tealights

I live in Sweden, and dark winters is a part of life here. To get the right feeling in my home all those dark evenings I light a candle, and keep one burning all the time. That means there is always leftover wax, candles never burn out completely. So I have been trying different ways to use those leftovers instead of just trowing them away in the trash.

One very easy way to use that leftover wax is to make container candles with the use of a tealight to get a wick. I buy my tealights from IKEA, but I guess they are almost the same from any store.

 

 

What you need is mainly the same things as when making any candle at home:

A pan you can spare,you will probably get wax on it.

A bowl to melt the wax in (I bought mine at IKEA). You must always melt your wax using water-bath. Don't let it get too hot.

Containers to make your candle in. I use pots that has contained candles but have burned out, like Drömlik from IKEA, or glass containers you get when you buy scented candles.

Tealights of course. The ones in aluminum are easier to use.

Leftover wax - just start collecting.

 

I prepare the wax by cutting of the black burnt part of the wick. You can mix colours, but then you usually end up with something brown.

 

While the wax is melting I prepare the tealight. Peel off the aluminum and put the tealight with it's wick in the pot.

 

 

When the wax has melted you pour it on the tealight so that it is covered, but make sure you can see enough of the wick to be able to light it. Let them cool off slowely. Usually you can take out the candle from the mould when it has cooled completly, and make another one. That way you make one after an other and store them for later use, just put a new one in when one burns out.

 

 

 

 

 

And then you can enjoy your home made candle and know that you have not wasted any wax. The wick from the tealight is not so big, it can not melt the whole new candle, but the fact that you get new leftovers is no longer a problem. These candles burn longer than just a tealight would, each time you use some of that leftover wax.

I originally wrote this page in Swedish (you can find it here). But candles are international. If you think you see more stuff from IKEA on this page, you are right. I live in Stockholm, where IKEA opend in 1965. I bought my first furniture there. I like it.

 

 

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