Turn your favorite wine bottles into gorgeous candles. Easy DIY for friends, family, or of course YOU!
Do you have wine bottles that you are absolutely in love with? The design is so beautiful it is almost...ALMOST too pretty to drink? Find new life for your favorite bottles with these fun DIY candle project.
What you will need for this project
This kit includes everything you need to perfectly score and mark your wine bottle. It also includes a protective glove (which you should use because I didn't and absolutely cut myself), and it's fully adjustable for different size bottles. Includes cutter pen for freehand bottle marking.
This kit includes 100 wicks with centering devices and stickers (really important for wicks to be set correctly). The wax is also 100% natural soy which is the easiest wax to work with for candle making.
Ensure it is Therapeutic grade for aromatherapy and topical use. Lavender is always a crowd-pleaser however you can buy these in a variety of scents and even mix your own.
And of course, your favorite wine bottle to transform
Step 1: Open the wine bottle cutter kit and use the clamps to size the cutter to where you want to score your wine bottle. This cutter will just be marking the wine bottle and give a guideline for the glass to break where you want it to.
You will simply spin the wine bottle around until you have a good and even mark around the entire circumference of the wine bottle. The brackets and clamps that come with the kit make it easy to spin the bottle evenly exactly where you want the final cut to be.
Step 2: Boil a liter or so of tap water. You are then going to
go back and forth between pouring the boiling water and
cold tap water on the area that you marked with the bottle cutter. The physics of glass is such that exposure to very hot and then very cold liquids will cause it to break. The etching you did around the bottle gives the bottle the guideline for where to break in one even piece. Then use the sandpaper that came in the bottle cutter kit to sand the edges of the bottle so you have a smooth edge.
Step 3: Prepare the wax. You need about double the amount of dry wax chips that you will want in the finished product. If your wine bottle is 2 cups (16oz) then you will want to melt 4 cups of dry wax chips. You can measure this by getting your measuring cup, filling it with water, and pouring it into your wine bottle bottom. Rise and dry it thoroughly afterward or the wax will not set evenly. Melt the wax chips in a double boiler.
You can stir to get an even melt around this wax. This will take between 5-7 minutes for 4-5 cups of wax chips. Once the wax is melted you can add your scent. How much you add depends completely on how strong of a scent you want your candle to burn. It also depends on how strong the oil is that you have purchased. I experimented a bit with mine and did 3 different candles at different strengths to test which I liked the most. This is also the point where you can add color (with food coloring) if you want the wax to dry a specific color. If not most wax will dry white.
Step 4: Set your wicks and pour your wax. The wax kit I linked above comes with 100 wicks, wick stickers, and two wick-centering devices. Although you can use two chopsticks if you are making candles in bulk. Peel one of the wick stickers off of the tab and attach the wick bottom. Then remove the other sticker peel and stick it to the
center bottom of your wine bottle container. Then place the wick through the centering device or use two chopsticks to ensure that the wick is set correctly.
Pour the wax into the wine bottle candle holder you have prepared. Ensure that you stop before you hit the centering device (it will leave an impression on the wax if you fill it too high).
These will need to set for at least a few hours at room temperature but overnight is best.
Step 5: After your candles have set remove the centering device and trim your wick. Then light it up and enjoy your incredible upcycled art project.
This wine bottle is from an incredible natural winery in Portland, OR. Maloof Wines is incredible and has incredible artwork.