Tim and I like candles. Especially around the holidays. But who doesn’t?

We’ve burned through a couple of our large ones this year, and when it came to getting rid of them, I hated the thought of throwing out those nice glass jars.

So I looked up a couple of tutorials online of how to upcycle them. Some said to boil the jars to get the remaining wax out of them, but that sounded uber dangerous to me…especially since I tend to be prone to spills and such. I still have a scar on my right forearm from just getting chicken fries out of the oven, so I can only imagine the self-mutilation boiling jars of candle wax would inflict.

Then I found a tutorial that suggested freezing the jars. I thought I’d give that one a try. These are the two old candles I experimented with. I froze them for a little over an hour. The wax shrunk up a bit, loosening itself from the walls of the jar. The Slatkin & Co candle popped out easy-peasy with a butter knife! I had to hack the wax into smaller parts to get it all out of the other. Even though it took a little more muscle power and a sharper knife {I’m happy to say I didn’t suffer any injuries!}, it only took me a few minutes to get the hardened wax out! A little washy-wash with some regular dish soap to get the waxy film and soot out, and they were shiny and sparkly and good as new!This one now occupies the guest bath. How cute is that?

I am no longer sad when our candles burn out. Now I just get to think of fun new ways to reuse the jars! How cute would it be to fill one with hard candies and tie it up with a ribbon for a little holiday gift for your neighbor? Or mailman? Or your great-aunt’s cousin’s daughter that did that nice thing for you that time? You know what I mean, a Christmas smile for an acquaintance.

I’m sure you are much more creative than I and can think of lots of other ways to use them.

Merry Upcycling!

With love, Malorie