Light My Candle

Good Thursday, dear readers! Today's post will be a quick how-to that will teach you an easy hack to make scented candles last longer - with very little cost. I LOVE a good-smelling candle, but those puppies can get really pricey, unless you ask your mom for candles as presents (I do). So I came up with this little trick a few months back - I'm sure others have thought of it, but I haven't seen it, so here we go!

What You Need:
Scented jar candle with wax left, but little-to-no wick
2-3 unscented (or same scent) tea lights
Old or inexpensive dinner knife

Sad, used-up wicks.

Fresh, unscented tealights.

What You're Gonna Do:
1. Using the knife, cut into the wax around the used-up wicks. These are usually seated in some kind of metal stand. Do not worry if you make a giant mess or if you don't cut in a perfect circle, or if the wax breaks apart and falls out of the jar. It'll be okay.

2. Once you get down to the base of the wick stands, pry them off the bottom of the jar (they are usually glued down with a stretchy gummy paste and will pry up).

3. Take your tealights out of the metal cups. You can remove the wick and just use it alone, or leave it in. I prefer to leave it in - I think it lasts longer this way.

4. Seat the tealights in the bottom of the jar, then use the scented wax to cover the empty spaces between. Try to get it as even as possible.

I ended up adding a 3rd tealight when the wax melted.

5. Turn your oven to 250 degrees. Put the candle jar on a pie pan (or other baking pan) and put it in the oven. Don't worry about pre-heating - it won't take long.

6. Watch carefully - when the wax has all melted, turn the oven off. Don't take the candle out yet - I worry that the sudden change in temperature may mess with the glass. This could be unfounded, but whatever. Better safe than sorry.

Note third wick - you can add another tealight

once the wax is melted if you want more wicks.

7. Crack the oven so some heat can escape, then wait about 5 minutes.

8. Remove the pan from the oven, then allow the candle to fully cool.

9. Enjoy a re-wicked candle!

A Few Tips:
-If there is a ton of wax on the sides of the jar, take some of it out and leave it out during the wick-removal step. If you leave in too much wax, your new wicks will drown.
-Be careful when cutting out the wax - you wouldn't want to break a jar.
-ALWAYS use precaution with candles - don't burn down the house!
-Buy nice candles - they last way longer than the cheapies from the grocery store, and they smell better, too.

I'm still up in the air about tomorrow's post...guess y'all will be surprised!