Hello there! Great to see you. Today I am taking part in another blog hop with some lovely crafty people in the Lets Get Hopping Facebook group. Hopefully you will have arrived here from Sherry Espinoza , and already found some great uses for your jam jars. So what is my great tip for upcycling jam jars? Well, to use them to create your own candles and decorate the outside as a gift!
Well, mine isn’t technically a jam jar….it was a Nutella jar, but the same difference really….well for this project it is! Now please be careful if you decide to have a go at making a candle. It will involve hot water and hot wax, which all could spell for an accident if you are not careful! So, now we have gotten over the fine details lets get started!
Materials required for upcylcing jam jars!:
- Wax beads or flakes – I use Soy wax flakes
- Fragrance oil – the scent of your choosing
- Candle dye chip
- Pan
- Heatproof bowl
- Measuring jug
- Measuring scales
- Foil
- Jam Jar
- Wick
- Thermometer
- Measuring spoons
To decorate****:
- Decorative paper – the paper I used is from the docrafts Modern Lustre Pack. I love this paper – to see what else I have created with it, check out this post here.
- Double sided adhesive
- Foam tape
***Note this is purely for decoration and should be removed when the candle is to be used to prevent a fire.
Upcycling Jam Jars - making the candle
To start off, you need to work out the size of your container. Fill you jar with water to as high as you want your candle to be. Tip this water into a measuring jug and note the ml. Whatever this ml measurement is, you need to measure the grams equivalent of you wax. For example, I measured 160ml of water and measured out 160g of wax flakes.
To melt the wax you need to heat this over a double boiler – pan with half filled with water sat on a hob, with your heat proof bowl over the top with your wax in. Once the wax has melted, remove from the heat. Add your dye chips in at this point and stir to get an even consistency. The more chips you add in the darker the colour will be. But, bare in mind as it solidifies it will be paler due to the nature of the wax.
You are now ready to add your fragrance. You should add no more than 10% of your liquid volume in fragrance. So with my candle, I add 15ml of fragrance. When this is all mixed in, place you wick inside you container – you can adhere with glue and pour your wax in. You should leave this to cool overnight or for 24 hours.
upcycling jam jars - decorating
After the candle had completely set, I added some decorations to the jar to give as a gift. I covered the top of the lid up as it had best before dates. This was also a great place to put a sentiment, and this was foam mounted to give dimension.
Lastly, I layered decorative velum and card as strips horizontally around the side. This was finished off with a little foam mounted sentiment.
Did you like this project? Why not pin it and save for later? It will be there for when you need it!
Feel free to leave me a comment below, I love to hear what you think of today’s post! Next stop on the hop is Tanya Rees, so pop along by click the arrow above!
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Till next time,
*this post was NOT sponsored, requested, or paid for; I have written it because I wanted to. The information provided is based on my own personal experience. I am not an expert and I do not work for these companies.
12 thoughts on “Upcycling Jam Jars!”
Very nice!
What a great tip on measuring for the wax. I usually wing it, I hadn’t t occurred to me to calculate out a one to one ratio that way.
Glad I have passed on a tip! ?
Another wonderful use for old jars! Love the idea of making your own giftable candle. Maybe I need to try my hand at this! Thanks for sharing your great idea Verity.
Thanks, glad you liked It!
Wow this is just stunning! Looks totally upmarket gift shop worthy. Thank you so much for playing along in the hop Verity!
Aw, thanks for the lovely comments ?
First of all, I’m a little envious that your Nutella comes in a glass jar… ours in the US comes in plastic. Now for the real reason I’m here… your candle is adorable! And I appreciate all the detailed information on making it – thank you! ?
It is handy, they are a nice shaped jars!
Absolutely stunning Verity.
Lovely Gift idea Verity, such pretty presentation.
I wouldn’t even dream of making my own candle. I feel inspired. Thank you for sharing your how to. Your project is beautiful.