Bottle Cap Candles

Well, i FINALLY created a 'Pinterest pin' with some friends last Thursday morning. The "Bottle Cap Candle" Experiment! Due to my obsession with SMALL THINGS, i had to try this one!!


Original Pinterest PIN!

I knew we already had a ton of candle wax (new, but also, more importantly, old (mostly used candles, chunks from other candles, etc.)). I priced tealight wicks and ended up with a great deal via the World Wide Web (that one's for you, Bethany!): 1,000 wicks for $24 total. Score! The local Hobby Lobby wanted $2.49 for *TEN*!

Then i sent out a message on Facebook asking if any local friends had beer bottle caps laying around. Sure enough, my buddy Cheryl works at an American Legion and promised me a TON within a couple days. She sure did deliver that promise: three large freezer bags full!

I had everything i needed. Let the craft BEGIN!

I made a pot of coffee, bought some Wegmans chocolate donut holes, and invited said two gal friends over Thursday morning for chattin' and craftin'. We laid all the caps out on two cookie sheets. I'm guessing about 200-300 total (no, i did not count). Maybe 400?? We sat the wicks in each cap and i started boiling the wax on the stove via Ron's candlemaking equipment (it helped to already have that, but not necessary).

Ron came home from running errands and reminded me that the instructions suggested we warm the caps first in the oven, so that the wax would stick better, and he was right. So we removed ALL the wicks again (tedious stuff!) and warmed 'em up. In taking them out of the oven, we noticed the plastic seal inside the cap was starting to melt and curl, which actually was probably a GOOD "accident" we stumbled upon, which may have inhibited the wax from sticking to the cap properly. No telling. So we peeled ALL the plastic curly seals from each cap. NOW they were ready for wicks. Plop plop plop...

The wax was melted and ready for pouring. This was tedious work as well! Keeping a steady hand and trying not to spill or overflow was tricky. The gals were patient and pretty steady, but near the end, i was just pouring wax willy-nilly, knowing most (ha) of it was getting in the cap, but a lot was getting on the tin foil too. But they were filled! And they cooled quickly.

And by later that afternoon, i was moving the mini candles from the bake sheet into bowls. We did three colors: red (turned out pinkish, really), green and yellow. Picking away the spilled dry wax from the caps was tricky, and in retrospect, i shouldn't have purposely gotten sloppy, but the yellow chipped away easier than the green; it wasn't too bad.



So there ya have it! Three bowls full of baby candles! They were purported on Pinterest to burn 60-90 min each, and i tested one and it definitely made it an hour. Then i had to go do stuff, and missed it burning out, but i'm guessing shortly thereafter it did, given how the wax looked at 60 min. They burn quite evenly and the light is strong!

So you might wonder: What the hell are you going to do with a ton of teeny tiny candles? Well, i can see a TON of opportunities to use them:

1) Temporary power outage - Put these all over and you've got light for at least an hour til you figure out what else to do, find batteries, etc. Or just light more!

2) Porch party! Great lighting and ambience!

3) Lego People bonfire!

If you haven't already checked out Pinterest, and you are crafty and thoughtful and smart, you might get a kick out of all the ideas floating around out there. Find me and my boards (in fact, the red "P" in the righthand column, here on the blog, will lead you directly to it)! Check out my friends' stuff too!