Shot Glass Candles

Walking around the pound store the other day, I found something I didn't expect: shot glasses!

Being a lover of kids crafts (and shots not being particularly kids-appropriate), I kept looking around and stumbled across candles and crayons. Hmm... shot glasses... candles... crayons... kids...

A simple crafty idea (needing no oven or special equipment) was born - Shot glass candles :)

You'll need these things from the pound store:

• Shot glasses
• Tea light candles
• Stirring sticks/wooden skewers
• Needle nose pliers
• Wax crayons
• Cotton string
• Tuna tin
• Wood blocks (or something heat-proof) around 4cm high

Remove the metal cases, wicks and metal wick holders from 3 tealight candles and put the wax in the tuna tin.

Save the metal pieces which hold the wicks, we'll need those later!

Remove the paper wrapper from the colour crayon you want to use in your candle.

Bear in mind that your candle will end up lighter than the crayon you choose.

You can also use more than one colour as I've found the layers of wax tend to settle on top of each other in the end! See the finishing photos for ideas.

Now, as you've got a pack of tealight candles, you can use two of them to melt the wax!

Place your heat-proof (or just plain wood) blocks a candle's width apart and light them.

Next up, use your needle nose pliers to pinch the edge of the tuna tin to make a lip you can pour from (like a jug).

Carefully rest the tin over the wooden blocks and leave to melt, giving the wax pieces a stir every so often.

As your shot glass is a lot taller than the tea light cases, we'll need to make a longer wick.

Use a skewer or metal pick to poke out the hole in the metal piece that held the wick. Make it wide enough for your string to pass through.

Next, measure a piece of string the height of the inside of your shot glass (plus around 1cm).

Feed it through the hole in the metal piece until 2-3mm pokes out the bottom.

Use the needle nose pliers to crimp (press together) the metal above the end of the string so it can't be pulled through and press it down on a flat surface to flatten the metal disc.

You can use a dab of hot glue under the wick, but alternatively, I found you could carefully dip the metal end of the wick in the melting wax and then press it down in the shot glass on the bottom.

If you allow the string to soak up a bit of wax, the wick stands up more straightly!

Next up, break the coloured crayon into pieces and drop them into the melted clear wax.

Use your stirrer to mix the wax until evenly mixed.

You can use more than one colour here (a similar colour works well) which will look a little odd but I found the colours separate as the candle waxes cool.

Now for the careful part!

Grip the edge of the tuna tin with your pliers so you can comfortably tip the side with the bent lip in it.

Too slow and the wax will run down the tin so you need to pour confidently!

Pour the wax between the wick and the edge of the shot glass.

If the wick moves to the side, use your stirrer to gently nudge it back to the middle.

Once the wax has settled a bit, pour any leftover wax into the glass to top it up. As the wax cools, it will dip in the middle a bit so try to make the wax sit 'proud' (bumping upwards) when you finish pouring.

You can leave the candles to cool on the side or you can put them somewhere cold like the fridge. I found that the fridge set the wax hard in about 30 minutes

Place the candles on a heat-roof mat (or a coaster works well) and wait for the dark!

Light them up and enjoy the glowing wax as the flame burns steadily!

I found the candles lasted at least 4-5 hours (although I've not let one burn down all the way yet).

Well, there you go! A quick guide to making your own shot glass candles.

If you make your own, why not experiment with different wax colours to create layered candles and don't forget to post your photos!