When Life Gives You Art Supplies: Upcycle Old Candles To Make More Candles

There is something about me that you may not know: I hate waste, and I have a problem throwing out things that have great crafting potential. That of course is one of the reasons I love recycling crafts, together with of course the creative challenge that goes hand in hand with being resourceful! Someone like me might be labeled a pack rat or a hoarder, but let them talk, because freedom from possessions isn’t always what it is cracked up to be, especially if those possessions are art supplies or potential art supplies! Truthfully it all boils down to whether you have a place to store all this potential, and I, unlike most Israelis, thankfully do (to the dislike of my family, sigh.) Okay, enough babble, but first I should also add that I am often the address for people wanting to get rid of stuff but not wanting to throw it in the garbage, and that can have its pluses and minuses of course because then their burden becomes mine, on the other hand, knowing what to toss and what to label and pack away is a great skill to have. I’m babbling again. What I really wanted to say is that I believe it is important to always be thinking about how to use things that show up in your life in creative ways rather than adding them to the landfill!

So, when a huge bag of literally the most unsightly candles (likely from the 1970s) you may have seen showed up at our house by “accident,” I thought ugh, and at first tried to send this bag back to its owners, but then I realized that with all this potential wax we can have a family candle making night! I had in any case been wanting to make candles, so here was our chance, wow!

And that my friends is called being open to using your resourceful instincts! I am planning to use the colored wax, sorted and cut down by yours truly, to make fun havdalah candles, and of course there will be so many I think we’ll give some as gifts to neighbors! Keep on reading to see a photo of what some of the candles looked like before being transformed into art supplies!

There is a subtle difference between the creme and the white, but worth maintaining. Most of the yellow came from the outer layer of the huge candle below, and in general when upcycling candles one must cut them to see what exactly is inside, I even found white candles that had a creme middle!
Look at those beauties, wow. And of course since I am ever-resourceful the little plastic flowers went into bag to save with the cake decorating supplies!

Can’t wait to melt all this wax and give it a new life, stay tuned for that!