28-31 weeks old

Wax on, Wax off part 2

So now that I had my jar all clean it was time to make a "new" candle. (See how to clean your jar here)

First, I boiled some water. Once it was boiling, I just carefully set my old jars in the water and waited for them to melt.

I took my clean jar and my new wick and rigged up this little system to hold my wick in the middle and straight up while pouring the hot melted wax in.

After I poured the hot wax in, I placed it in the refrigerator so it would harden and started over with melting another candle.

I did this process for each old candle I had. My new candle has a nice stripey pattern to it and the house smelled really good from all the melted candles.

But now, I have a bunch of empty glass jars and I don't really know what to do with them. Does anyone have any ideas? Or should I just scour pinterest like I do for hours every night?

He's watching you...

Yesterday we picked up our Elf on the Shelf. Marley said she didn't want one because they're creepy and she doesn't like stuff that rhymes. She said she wanted a bunny on the shelf. She wouldn't even carry the box in the store because she was afraid that he was going to come out of the box.

When we got him home I put the bag and his box on the counter and just went about our day. Marley fell asleep on the couch (which never happens) so I used this as an opportunity for our elf to escape from his box.  When she woke up he was sitting on the mantel. She saw him immediately and again said 'okay he's creepy'  She asked me why I put him there and I told her that while she was sleeping I was in my room playing with Mason so I don't know how he got there. I think she was a little freaked out.  At bed time we read the book and picked out a name for our elf. (His magic doesn't work until he has a name)  She came downstairs once to check on him to see if he went to the North Pole for the night.

So without further ado... Here's Jack, our Elf.

I'll be back with weekly updates to show what little Jack has been up to and how well Marley's handling the whole santa/elf thing. (She freaked out a while ago about getting an elf because she didn't want it to tell Santa that she's bad) This could be interesting.

See all our elf adventures here

Wax on, wax off

I saw on Pinterest a few different ways to get that last little bit of wax out of your candle jars. I finally made it out to Hobby Lobby to buy some wicks, so I decided to give it a try. 

Here's all my "used" candles. My goal is to melt all the wax and combine it and make a new candle. 

First, I needed a clean jar. I had this one and it was pretty good size so I went with it. All you do is boil water on the stove. Once it's boiling for a few minutes, carefully pour it into the candle jar. Almost immediately you will see the wax on the bottle start to melt and float up to the top. It's pretty neat looking. 

Once it had all floated to the top I used a piece of metal to reach in and get the wicks out. And I stirred it a little just to help the remaining wax make its way to the top of the jar. (Be careful, it's very hot)

After a few hours, the water was cool and the wax on top was hard so it was time for the next step.

See how cool! (I was very excited that this actually worked)

I used a pencil to poke two holes in the wax so I could pour the water out. Then I cut the wax in half and pulled it out. I saved the wax to melt to use in my new candle. 

Cleaned the black stuff off the jar and made sure all the old wax was out and now it's like new and ready to become a candle again! 

Check out Part Two- making a new candle. 

Anyone have any other methods? I've heard of putting them in the freezer too, but have never tried it. Have you?