Candles

I have never made candles from scratch, though would very much like to learn! I DO however know how to stretch what I have to the limit! Haha :) So when I get candles, especially those jar candles my sister gets me for birthdays or Christmas there is always "leftovers". It drives me NUTS to have so much wax left over so I learned to make my own wicks (see also my "vegetable oil lamps" in my "No Electricity Adventure" here) I also have those little "tea light" and I save the little metal tubs and the metal wick holders that are left once they burn down.

So what I do is whatever leftover wax I have I save in a can, I save the little "tea light" metal bits and the wicks are made from the thread for crocheting, that small skinny thread that you think is impossible to hold on to :) I cut off a bit and soak the thread in a cup of water and a TBLSP of salt and about 2 TBLSP of Borax. I let that soak for a bit and the hang to dry. When I am ready:

I put some left over wax bits into small metal tea light can and put over another candle. I have a few metal trivets that I use. (I love this scent my sister got me!) 

 Here is the metal wick holder that is always left after burning the tea lights. I use a small crochet hook to push this thread through the hole in the center and cut off the bottom thread to leave about a centimeter. I make sure to have enough thread for the wick to have plenty for lighting/

 Using the crochet hook I push the metal wick holder that is now threaded with the wick into the hot wax and make sure the string gets wax on it also.

 Trim any excess wick and allow to dry and light it up!

See it works :)!!!!

If you need a thicker wick, do the same (soaking in the borax and salt) using all cotton material or braid/weave the all cotton crochet thread to the thickness you need. It works great!

By the way, the salt and Borax dictates the color of the flame - yellow / white. Soaking in different chemicals will change the color from white to yellow to violet to orange. Try it sometime.