Bottle Cap Tealights

By July 7, 2015 magazine, News No Comments
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By Rachel & Ashley, the Tipsy Teachers from SchoolHouseBooze.com

Photos: Rachel & Ashley, the Tipsy Teachers from SchoolHouseBooze.com

Some days we just like to let our Martha Stewart out. We like to imagine that she may have stumbled across our blog once or twice and thought “My, I wonder what those ladies are doing with all their bottle caps”. Yes, Martha, we do tend to build up quite the collection. We’re trying to save our planet so we can’t just let those beauties go to waste. We’ve got one word for you: upcycling.

Our crafty skills in the kitchen extend to more than just cocktails. Don’t you know that we’re certified candle makers (that’s a lie)? If candle makers microwave old candles to make new candles, then call us pros! No skills required for this Art Class, Martha. Just a 30 minutes and a pile of recyclables.

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Bottle Cap Tealights

 Makes as many bottles that were opened last night!
 Bottle Caps (Amount varies)

1-10 Unscented Tealights

Flavouring Extract (we used vanilla, rosewater & cinnamon)

Food colouring

Hammer

1 Large Nail

Dish cloth

Small Microwaveable dish

Stir Sticks

Teaspoon

1. Go to a party and collect as many bottle caps as you can. Once you have a million, wash ‘em out and prepare to turn them into candles!
2. Place the dented caps on a washcloth, face down. With the flat end of the nail pointed down, hammer out any of the dents ‘till the cap lies flat.
3. Remove the tealights from the tin casing and slide out the wick.

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4. Microwave the wax in a microwaveable dish for 1 minute intervals until it is completely melted (for us, it took about 2.5 minutes per tealight).
5. Add 1-3 drops of food colouring and flavouring extracts to the melted wax and stir (the flavouring and extract tend to sit on the bottom of the dish).
6. Place the wicks in the caps and cut each in half (half of your candles will have a base, the others you will just pop the wick in)

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7. Using a teaspoon, and tilting the dish, scoop the wax (from the bottom of the dish to get the flavour and colour) and pour into the bottle caps. Repeat with each bottle cap ‘till they’re all full.
8. Light them at your next party and take in all the compliments.

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