THE CAVENDER DIARY

My friend Raul was telling me about these amazing candles made in vintage oil cans…….and of course I thought (with my usual amount of confidence),”I can make those.”

Although I tried to find some vintage cans, most collectible oil cans are opened from the bottom…..that would make all my candles upside down. Not good.

They also hold 32 ounces of oil……That’s all the oil one needs, but that makes a mighty big candle.

I opted for chickpea cans, about 15 ounces. Plus they were already in the recycling. (Sidenote here: We are NOT advocating canned vegetables, please don’t eat them, they aren’t good for you)

Here’s what we started with.

• A 2 pound block of cream wax
• A couple of 15 ounce cans (cleaned and dry)
• Scented oil made for candles
• Large sized wicks
• Chopsticks
• Clothespins
• Water

On a plastic cutting board, I used a chef’s knife to shave my block of cream wax with a knife.

Then I diced it finely till it looked like coconut shavings. The smaller the pieces, the faster it will all melt.

I used a pair of needle nose pliers to bend a point in an old coffee can. This will make a small spout to help me pour out my melted wax.

I filled the coffee can almost to the top with wax shavings and place it in a stock pot. An old pot works best because the wax can be a bit messy sometimes. Use a pot that you won’t cook in.

Then I add about 2-3 inches of water to the pan to make a “water bath”.

On high heat, it doesn’t take long for the boiling water to melt all the soft wax. Stir with a chopstick to break up any remaining chunks of wax.

Once all the wax is melted, remove it from the water bath and add a few drops of scented oil for candles. Neither of us are big fans of floral scents, so we used a combo of “Leather” and “Cedar”.

Sounds pretty MANLY, doesn’t it? Don’t really think “MOTOR OIL” would make a good home fragrance. But who am I to judge?

We found the fragrances oils online at Lone Star Candle Supply. About 2 dollars each.

Always wait till the last possible minute to add the oil, or all the fragrance will dissipate in the hot wax.

I used the other chopsticks and clothes pins to hold the wicks in place in the cans before I add the melted wax.

Make sure the wicks are proportionate to the size of the candle you’re making. Large wicks work for 3 – 3 1/2 inch diameter candles.

I hold the wick in place and slowly pour in the melted wax. It’s not extremely hot, but can occasionally get messy……that’s why the newspapers are laid out. That little spout I made in the can helps tremendously.

Clever, I know.

Here are a couple of candles cooling.

Once the wax solidifies, it will cave-in in the center a little. That’s why I only filled them 2/3 full. Always add another layer of melted wax on top. ’till they look like this.

2 pounds of wax was exactly enough to make 3 tin can candles, each filled about 1/2 inch from the top.

Be sure to trim the wick down to about 1/4 inch before lighting.

Now for the oil can labels.

I found a blog online , Model Junk Yard, where the label templates are available for download.

I just printed them.

Cut them to fit my cans,

and glued them on with an Elmer’s X-treme Glue Stick.

Love that stuff. I think it’s for scrapbookers, so it works X-treme-ly well.

So, here they are…….

Pretty cool, Am I right?

They look like oil, but smell like leather and cedar. Nice

See Raul, told ya I could make some even better.