Thursday, March 22, 2012

{DIY} Recycled Wine Bottle Candles



Yeah, yeah, I know, I've completely been slacking off lately and have not posted nearly enough in the last month or so, I hope you will forgive me, as I have been busy catching up with some great BBC series, which are completely addictive and always require that I watch an unmentionable number of episodes in a row of such shows as "Cranford," "Lark Rise to Candleford," "Mildred Pierce"  or "Sherlock," to name a few...I'm taking a 30 minute break to share this little DIY with you today...  :)

I buy candles quite frequently, and usually stick to the kind that comes in a large glass jar (like the ones made by Yankee Candle). Unfortunately, they always seem to burn very unevenly and I always end up with a candle that's completely burned down on one side, making it impossible to get to the other side. It kind of looks like this:

 
Time to recycle that wax, as well as some of those empty wine bottles you have (hopefully) been saving...I gave you some tips for an easier way to cut wine bottles on this post a while back, and if you haven't already done so, now is the time to cut some of those empty bottles. You will need:

  • Cut wine glasses (decide on the height of the candle holders based on how much wax you have)
  • (soy) wicks (available at any craft store. Be sure to choose the right height for your candle holders)
  • Wooden skewers (to hold the wick up)
  • Masking tape (or other type of tape)
  • Pot of water (to melt the wax with)

Step 1:

Melt the wax by placing the jar in a pan of simmering water, and allow the wax to melt completely. Take out the old wick.



Step 2:

Take your recycled wine bottle candle holder, and place the wick in the center. It helps keep it centered to add a drop or two of melting wax on the bottom before placing the wick. Help it stay up with wooden skewers and a little masking tape.



Step 3:

Gently pour the melted wax into the containers, and let the wax set up until it is solid again (it took about 30 minutes).



Step 4:

I had already taken the labels off the bottles before cutting them (because I collect wine labels), but you could cut your bottle above the label for decoration. I didn't have the labels, so I added some hemp and a wax seal on one candle, and a simple ribbon and a wax seal on the other.  I secured everything with a hot glue gun. And voilĂ ! Cheers! :)




8 comments:

  1. Great idea, Steph! Looks good!

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  2. Those are super cute!

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  3. Do you have a tutorial or tips on how to cut the bottles? I love these! Thank you for sharing!

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    1. Hello there and thank you for your comment. You can read a post on how to cut wine bottles under my DIY section at

      http://wineandcork.blogspot.com/p/diy.html

      I hope this helps :)

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    2. The direct link to the cuting glass tutorial can be found here: http://wineandcork.blogspot.com/2012/02/diy-how-to-successfully-cut-glass.html

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  4. What a great idea. I have heard about making your own candles but never knew how. This looks really simple and a fun activity. http://www.tttaccents.com/listing.asp?dept_id=45010&nopopup=1

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