Easy Teacup Candles

Whenever I browse thrift stores, I always love looking at the mismatched teacups and china. Unfortunately, buying ten teacups is impractical, so making candles with them is an excellent use!

First you'll need teacups (with or without saucers, both work). Next, you need wax. I used shaved soy wax because they are container candles. You also need wicks, which I will talk about in the next step. Lastly, you also likely want fragrance oils (I used Gardenia Jasmine). I decided not to color the wax because the teacups were already decorative.

Originally, I bought pre-dipped, ready made wicks, but found them hard to center and balance. Instead, I made some by tying cotton yarn onto sticks and dipping them in melted wax.

Next, put the wax in a pan. The pan is now a candle-making pan only! Melt the wax over low heat. Most instructions say to use a double boiler, but low heat is just as good. (Please know that wax does not boil, and can catch fire if overheated to the point of smoking.)

How much scent to add depends on the strength of the fragrance oil and personal preference. I used about half the bottle for one pound of wax. Also know that fragrance oils are different from essential oils, which are much stronger and more expensive.

Once scented, pour the wax into the prepared cups (it's a good idea to have newspaper down for this). Place the cups in a spot where they won't be knocked over. My wax took about 3 hours to set, but to be safe, let them harden twenty-four hours before lighting.

Once they are set, just trim the wicks and clean up any wax that spilled on the cups. If you have saucers, you can use them as a match holder.