I hate to waste and I love to burn scented jar candles. The candles say to only burn the wick down to a certain point, then dispose of the candle. Since these candles are not cheap, I don't want to throw away that much wax, so I ignored the directions and burned the candle all the way to the bottom.
Until the day I almost burned my house down. The jar was so hot that the glass broke, and the burning wax began to burn my coffee table. But I still don't want to throw away that much wax.
So here's a tip that I came up with. When the candle begins to get low, put the candle in an oven safe baking pan that has about 1/2 inch of water in the bottom. If the candle should break, the glass and wax will be contained within the baker and the water would immediately extinguish whatever fire may still be burning.
As a side note, if you would rather follow the directions, but still hate the thought of throwing that much wax away, take a knife and gently break up the remaining wax into small bits. Take some sort of mesh, like tulle, place the wax bits on top of the mesh and tie it up so that it looks like those wedding favors that are so popular. Or put them in closets, drawers, cabinets, etc for a lovely scent when you open the doors/drawers. Or save them to use for a wedding or baby shower or even a birthday.
By aprilcotton from Aurora, CO
These tips from Aprilcotton are dangerous!
Instead, use either a mug warmer, or even better a candle warmer ($5 at Wal Mart, may find it cheaper elsewhere) to use up the last of the wax. I don't even light my candles. I put them on a candle warmer and they last for many months. I have some on now that I've had for over a year and they still smell nice.
And so much safer than melting on the stove or using a knife to break up in the jar.
This page contains the following solutions.
When your candle burns down to the point it's no longer safe to burn or the wick is gone, simply turn on your coffee pot's warmer plate and set the candle on it. When the wax warms up, it produces the same amount of scent as when the candle is burning.
Candles in glass jars give much better light when power goes out and are safer to use. Buy on sale and keep in designated place, so you are not searching in an emergency.
To keep a jar candle fresh when the lid is missing simply turn the (unlit) jar upside down after wax hardens.
I placed a half used scented candle in a jar on my stove for show. That evening when I was making dinner and using the oven, I had forgotten to take the candle from the stove.
Keeping large pillar decorative candles forever. When I buy a decorative pillar candle, I burn for a little bit until I can fit a tealight candle inside.
I received several candles. I don't like candles unless they come in a jar because they drip on furniture and table linens. When my jarred candle blew out, I froze it for about a half hour. The remaining wax popped out, and I put the other candle in. I now have 6 candles that I would not have been able to enjoy otherwise.
I figured out that I could use the warmer setting on my stove to get the most out of a jar candle that had burned down to the point where the wick was useless. The jar still had 1/2 inch of wax left and I thought I would put it on the warmer and give it a try.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I'm new in the world of candles. I bought one in a glass container and it turns out that it is very hot. I can not touch it, especially in the part that no longer has wax.
It's that normal? Do all the glass candles get too hot at some point?Yes, they do get hot especially if if has been on awhile. I always put it on a cork coaster or on a surface that won't be affected by heat.
The size of the jar or container will usually determine how hot "to the touch" the container will be while the candle is burning and for several minutes after the flame is out.
I bought a jar candle made by Village Candles. The fragrance I bought is called pina colada. It smells great! Has anybody ever bought Village Candles and what fragrance do you like? I would like to get some ideas for some other fragrances, before I shell out more money for a fragrance I may not like, even though every one has different taste.
My mother-in-law bought me one for a gift. It was chocolate scented. It is the most potent scented candle I have ever experienced. It is worth the investment to buy Village Candles as they are the most fragrant ones I have ever tried.
Kathie, South Portland, Maine
Where do you buy Village Candles?
There are lots of places on line to buy them. Just do a search for Village Candles. I have a Village Candle Shop about a half mile away from me here in South Portland,Maine by the Maine Mall.
are those the ones that are similar to Yankee candles and sold in home stores like "linens'n'things" and "bed, bath and beyond"?
i can only comment on Yankee candles, to which i am a dedicated fanatic, despite the price. i have even made a "pilgrimage" to the factory in Mass.
Thanks, I will look on the web for the candles. Have you tried the Trapp Candles? The Trapp Candle that has the best smell is Fresh Cut Tuberose.
Yankee Candles are also very fragrant. I have used those too.
If you want good fragrance in candles that permeates the whole house then you have to spend the money. It is worth it. It seems that they last longer too and the jars they come in are reusable.
I live in Village Candles "backyard".
I don't normally like sweet smells but my favorites are the Hydrangea(sp) and Rose. I also like their "ocean" scent but don't know the name. The Odor Out candles are good also. At Christmas time I use their Blue Mountain Spruce I think it is.
Sorry not good with the names of the candles.
Here is Village Candles website: www.mainemade.com/
They have retail locations listed there.
Susan from ThriftyFun
HI all,
I buy all my candles from the best and most economical place
to buy candles (buy one, get one free).
Go to, www.Candlemart.com
Happy shopping.
Dorie
I am burning a Warm Apple Pie Village candle right now. It smells great.
Kathie, South Portland, Maine
We can buy Village Candles in South Jersey.
My absolute Favorite Village Candle Scent is called Natural Cotton. It makes my whole house smell soooo wonderful. I buy that one fragrance in bulk so I never run out. It has sort of like a fresh smell, like soap or clean laundry or something.
I can buy village candles at my local grocery store aka price chopper. I use to love Yankee candles. Then I tried Diamond candles. The scents are very fragrant but not strong to give you a headache. They burn evenly. They last a long time, are the size of a large Yankee candle but price of a medium and you get a ring valued at $10-10,000 in a gold foil wrapped inside a plastic bag. I have gotten 2 candles and bought few for gifts.
Are there some plastic or glass rings out there to lay inside a blown glass candle holder for stabilizing the tea light? Many blown glass candle holders have a hump in the middle that the tealight will not sit on properly, and if it sits on an uneven surface, the wax pours out of the tealight.
Anyone know of any?I have a thick tea cozy that I put under all my candles. See if you can put it at the bottom of the glass decanter and put the candle on top of it.
Use a piece of crumpled aluminum foil to stabilize the tea light.
Plasticene would fill in the spaces and allow your tealight to sit level.
I light a candle, lit some wax melt and run into the bottom of the holder. then, while it is still warm, put the tea light in it. As the wax hardens it will hold it in place.
I would get one of those little mesh bags of glass"buttons" from the dollar store. a few of these in the bottom will level things up and would let the candle burn safely.
Any lid from any empty jar should do the trick, but if you can find a lid the exact depth / heighth of the hump, you'll be in business.
I use clean sand for many things like this and it can be bought in small bags at arts and crafts stores or even larger retailers that have a crafts department.
Larger bags are inexpensive and can be purchased at all of the larger retailers. (Walmart, Lowe's, Home Depot)
My oldest son is an artist and he brought me some Tempera paint (dry) that can be mixed with the sand if you want nice colors (we used these to make the pretty vases with layers of different color sand). This can be bought at arts and crafts stores. These were really fun things to make.
I keep a lot of craft style links for when someone is looking for fun things to do with children. Here is one site that tells you how to color sand with food coloring:
I love Wikihow for everything and they have a link with some instructions also:
You can use as much or little as you like (even makes it so you use a larger holder by just adding more sand).
Just bought a really nice candle and before I could get in the house with it (in the sack) I dropped it and the whole side and corner of the jar shattered. Can anyone please suggest the best way to save my candle without ruining it. Please help.
By Sharla from TX
You will need to make sure you can remove the rest of the glass without cutting yourself! You can place it in a used, clean mason jar, mayo jar, or even in one of the tin metal buckets--whatever is non-flamable that you can put it in for use. I would put something like a cup saucer under it though, when you get ready to burn it.
Use your blow dryer! I would put it on high and just aim it around the leftover broken glass; if you can set the dryer on a counter {or have someone else hold it for you} as the areas of candle get softened you can slide a butter knife or metal nail file between the candle and glass to make sure it stays separated after it cools.
You can wear garden gloves or use a towel between you and the glass to keep your fingers/hand safe from the broken glass.
You could also set the entire thing {I don't know how large the candle is!} into the sink with very hot water and work it out of the glass using the knife trick. A pair of tongs might also come in handy.
If its on a garment put a blotting paper on and iron on top of it.if its in a jar try hot water or place it near the stove it will melt.
How can I make a hole in the bottom of a very slim, small candle so the candle will sit on the spike of a candleholder?
You may want to heat it just a bit, then gently press it down onto the spike. The heated wax will be easier to work with. I hope that helps.
Heat the bottom and then press it down to the spike it will then harden and stick to your candle holder.
Sometimes candles can burn quite sooty. The black soot sticks to the inside of the candle jar, looking unattractive. This page contains ideas for removing soot from candle jars.
This is a page about refurbishing old candles. Old well loved or stored candles may need a bit of a face lift before their next appearance.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
I burn lots of scented candles. When they get too low to burn, I use them on a candle warmer.
