Salvaging Candles

     I love candles, burning them frequently.  However, I had a few that didn't burn properly, or the wick was faulty, or just a general fail.  All of my pillars were fine, I can take care of those with proper "hugging," or folding in of the edges as it tunnels down to burn the wax evenly, but the jar candles were more difficult.  Being a cheap college student on a budget I tried to devise a way to revive these candles.  Candles are expensive these days.  

     So I devised a makeshift plan to melt the wax down and combine them with a new wick.  They were both vanilla scented, so it should work out.  With the help of all my boyfriend's awesome kitchen equipment (i.e. double boiler system, candy thermometer, random screwdriver) it went pretty smoothly. 

     The pictures chronicle my journey.  Candle wax melted well between 150-175 degrees, even faster with some stirring.  I didn't want it to get any hotter for fear of the glass shattering.   I poured in layers around the wick that I attached to the bottom with some warm wax as glue.

     My project was almost complete when my roommate brought out his devastated pillars!  Oy!  No worries.  I grabbed a can out of the trash and began to melt them down as well to make... a CANdle!  Sorry, that was uncalled for...  The can is not near as insulated as the glass jar, so it will need to burn on a coaster or something.  Maybe I'll slip it in a beer coozie!  I also found that the lids of the jar candles made good tea light or votive holders.

     All in all, I saved a lot of wax and made two new candles.  Not bad for a throw together!  And I actually did something in the realm of "going green."  Now I can wear those silly recycle and reuse shirts... *rolls eyes*... or not.  Hopefully this will be helpful to someone else as well.