DIY Tea Cup Candles

I was recently enlisted to help plan a bridal shower and the theme was a high tea party. As with most parties, I wanted to provide some kind of favour or keepsake to thank guests for attending.

I've seen tea cup candles in stores and craft fairs over the last few years and always thought they were pretty. When it came time to come up with an idea of what I could give guests I thought, why not try to create my own tea cup candle. It turns out, that they're pretty easy to make. I was able to find almost all my supplies at the Reuse Centre. The only thing that I couldn't find there was a tea cup, but I manged to find one at a local Goodwill store. Yay! A 100% reused project.

Materials

• Wax (any of these will work): old candles in similar colours, with wicks removed; paraffin wax; beeswax; soy wax
• Ceramic/porcelain/china tea cups
• Candle wicks with metal base
• Skewers
• Knife
• Cutting board
• Small metal coffee can  
• Pot 
• Water
• Oven mitts or other heat resistant gloves

Directions:

1. Chop your old candles or wax that you're using into small bits. This will make it easier and quicker to melt the wax.

2. Place your chopped up wax in your metal coffee can.

3. Submerse the can in a pot of water. The water should be about halfway up the side of the coffee can. Start to heat the water on medium heat. The water should be hot but not boiling. Occasionally stir the wax as it melts.

4. While your wax is melting, prepare your tea cups. Place one wick in each cup with the metal base resting at the bottom of the cup.

5. Place your skewer, perpendicular, on top of the tea cup and rest the excess wick on top of it. This will ensure that the wick stays upright when you pour the wax in.

6. Once the wax is fully melted, remove the pot from the heat and carefully remove the coffee can from the water using your oven mitts/gloves.

7. Pour the melted wax into each tea cup about 3/4 full. Adjust the wick, if needed, to ensure that it is upright and straight.

8. Allow the wax to completely cool, remove the skewer, and trim the wick to about 2cm above the wax.

Presto! You have a cute tea cup candle.

The guests loved the candles and an added bonus of creating them was that they doubled as decor during the party. These candles would also make a great gift for lots of other occasions. Happy crafting!

- Vanessa (Staff)
All Photos provided by Vanessa

October Reuse-It Item: Crayons

The Reuse Centre accepts crayons of all shapes, sizes, and colours. We'll take them new, used, and even broken! This month, our blogger volunteers have come up with a list of great ways to use up those old crayon stubs and pieces, that might not be great for colouring anymore.

This box of nearly-new crayons was donated to the Reuse Centre!

Michelle

Do you love Play-Doh®? I love Play-Doh®!

Here is an easy tutorial you can follow to make Play-Doh®-style putty at home, in all the colours of the rainbow.

All you need are crayon pieces and a couple of common kitchen ingredients to make this simple recipe. It's perfect for playing!

Get the tutorial at sugaraunts.com.

Nichole

I loved to colour when I was a kid, but as soon as the crayons became too short for me to sharpen I would always just toss them away. This craft uses all of the crayon nubbins earmarked for the garbage bin, and makes unique ornaments that you could use on your Christmas tree, or as that pop of colour in your home decorating!

The instructions, from the blog Living, Loving, Laughing & Creating Everyday, seem pretty simple: take the top off of a clear ornament ball, place a few crayon pieces inside, put the top back on and heat gently with a hair dryer until the pieces melt, swirling so the wax spreads around. Be careful - it sounds like it could get a little hot, but the results are worth it!

Tamara

Crayons are lots of fun, but when they inevitably get broken and stubby, what can you do with them? A practical reuse idea for crayons is to make a candle out of the pieces.

Other than soy wax (unless you're already a candle maker extraordinaire), chances are you already have most of the items you need at home. Check out the full instructions here.

Who doesn't love candles? They're so colorful, too! Enjoy!

Siao

The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer, so let's brighten up the place with colour and illumination!  This is a simple idea, with great results. Use leftover crayons to scribble on white paper bags. To melt the crayon, set a piece of parchment paper on top of the bag and iron it. This blends and swirls the colours.  

Punch holes throughout the paper bag to allow more light to flow, and then place a small tea light candle inside a plastic cup or glass holder inside the paper bags. If you're concerned about fire safety, you could also use a battery powered faux candle.

Get the full set of instructions at Aunt Peaches.

RuthAnn

My good friend Patti received this lovely handmade picture, made with crayons, for her birthday.

Make your own gorgeous artwork by melting crayons!
Image provided by RuthAnn.

Here's how her friend, Tammi, made it!

Materials needed:
Canvas
Crayons (this project used the equivalent of two boxes)
GOOP® (or another industrial adhesive; glue does not work)
Hair dryer

Set the canvas up at the angle you want your colours to run. The process is messy, so be sure to put a drop cloth underneath your project.

Use the GOOP® to adhere the crayons to the top of the canvas. You can peel the labels off of the crayons if you want to, but it's not necessary. Use the hair dryer to melt the crayons. It takes a few minutes to get going, but once they start to drip, it goes quickly. Angle the hairdryer in the directions that you want the wax to run, to blend colours.

Choose the image you want for your silhouette. For this project, Tammi combined two images (Eeyore and an umbrella). Glue your image to black card stock, trace, and cut it out. Remember that your image will be reversed when completed, since you flip it over to use the black side. Before sticking it down, make sure it is facing the way you want the final product to appear. Use goop to adhere the image to the canvas, and voila!

Valentine's Day on a Budget: Quick and Easy Candle Tutorial

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, store windows are filled with red and pink, and we are being encouraged to buy, buy buy! But there are plenty of ways to be thrifty and environmentally friendly around what is often characterized as a very consumerist holiday. For example, if you're thinking of buying flowers for your sweetheart, why not bring in your own vase instead of purchasing one? Most of us have a selection of rarely used vases, and Valentine's day is a great excuse to bring them out and show them off! Remember that it's a busy time for them, but with a few days' notice, most florists will be happy to create a beautiful arrangement in your own, special vase or container.

Dining out can be a major drain on your wallet, when you can usually buy the ingredients to make the very same meal at home for a fraction of the cost. Grab your partner, don your aprons, and have fun cooking a meal together.

So now that we've got flowers and dinner on the table, it's time to set the mood. Dim the lights and impress your sweetheart when you light up your very own, home made Valentine's Day candles.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

- A mold of some kind. Pictured is a silicone ice cube tray, but I also had success using a heart shaped cookie cutter and a sheet of tinfoil.

- Wax. You can use new paraffin wax or melt down old candles, which is a great way to use up the stubs and bits of those leftover red and white Christmas candles.
- Candle wick. You can buy this at any craft store, or if you're reusing old candles, you can actually reuse the wick as well
- Crayons in red or pink to give colour to your wax mixture.
- A pot and an empty tin can for a makeshift double boiler. A deep pot with a narrower top is the best, so that you can fit the can easily inside with room around the edges for water.
- Cooking spray

THE PROCESS

Set a pot of water on the stove to boil while you prep your other ingredients. You'll want to clean your tin can thoroughly and remove the label from the outside. Be sure to take care as the opening of the can may have some jagged or sharp edges. If you are using older candles and crayons, make sure to wash any dust or grime that may have accumulated on the outside. Remove any paper wrappings that may be around the crayons, and spray your moulds lightly with cooking spray.

If any of the wicks can be easily pulled from the candles, do it now.

Toss all of your wax and some of your crayon bits into your clean and sparkling tin can. Breaking up the pieces or shaving them down will reduce the time it takes everything to melt, but it isn't strictly necessary. If you are intending to reuse the wick string, make sure to leave it intact inside the candle chunks!

Using caution and a pair of oven mitts or kitchen tongs, lower your tin can into your pot of boiling water. If using a lot of wax, the can will be fairly stable. If not, you might need to hold on while things melt so that the can does not tip over.

I got bored and hot standing there above a pot of boiling water, waiting for my wax to melt. A quick dig through my cupboard turned up a metal strainer that, when set on the pot, still allowed the can to sit in the boiling water without tipping over. Using this method, you no longer have to hold on but it is still important to keep an eye on things, as you would when cooking. You may need to top up the water level every so often.

 If reusing old candles, fish out the wicks with a utensil after the candles have melted. Be prepared with an old plate or a piece of tinfoil, as this process can be a little messy. Use caution; the tin can, wax, and wicks will all be hot enough to burn your skin. Lay the salvaged wicks out to cool for a few minutes before attempting to handle them with your bare hands.

Pour your melted wax into your prepared mould and allow it to sit for several minutes so that it is not so liquid when your place the wick inside, or else you will be standing there holding on for quite some time. After the wax has solidified just a bit, the wicks will stay in place on their own instead of flopping over sideways.

If using a cookie cutter and tinfoil, make sure to press down on the cutter and hold while you pour the wax in order to minimize seepage out the bottom. Again, be careful! The wax will be very hot and if using a metal cutter, it will also get quite warm. Hold for about a half a minute and lessen the pressure for a few seconds. If there is major leakage, press down for a bit longer. If it is minimal, you can leave it to harden. Cooling time will vary based on the size of your molds, so it is best to leave them for at least an hour. Putting your wax-filled molds in the fridge will cool them more quickly.

Once your candles have cooled and the wax has hardened through, you can pop them right out! If the bottom of your mold was not completely flat, you can set your new candles on a warm surface (like a bit of heated tinfoil on a cookie sheet) for a few seconds to melt them into a flatter shape so that they don't wobble. If they are small, you can also try floating them! Trim the wicks and they're ready to light!

Now you have some cute candles to share with your Valentine. 

- Sarah (Volunteer)