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Altoids Tin Emergency Candle

This is my first instructable and I decided to make an Altoids emergency candle, since I had a tin lying around and have not seen one. This is used if the power goes out or if you need a candle say when camping or if you are traveling. There are five wicks in the candle, matches and strikers within the Altoids tin.

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Step 1Materials

tin can/soup can
candles(mine were a little bigger than tea light candles)
matchbook matches
i used a red crayon for color
hot glue gun
duct tape

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141 comments

1-40 of 141

Feb 23, 2012. 4:33 PM

TheREAL_Xman says:

Great project! Instead of going out and buying the candles I used crayons for wax and twine for wicks. Good instructions as well!

Dec 26, 2011. 5:26 PMCstaich says:

Great idea. I tried it with an Altoids smalls container and it worked fairly well, except it was very small and I don't know how long it will last. If you are using a larger container, and have some other way of keeping matches, would it be possible to fill both halves with wax?

Jan 26, 2009. 8:16 AMrecycleholic says:

This is great. I'm in the process of creating an emergency car kit and this would go perfect. Who doesn't have an altoid tin lying around?

Sep 29, 2011. 7:30 AMnjamspike says:

me i have a Myntz container though

Apr 12, 2009. 11:21 AMcre814me says:

An emergency car kit sounds like a good idea, but I would think twice about using something like this. On a trip one time, I bought a candle and stuffed it in my suitcase, then in the trunk. The candle melted and ruined some souvineer tees that I also picked up. I would advice rethinking your idea, but it is up to you!

May 6, 2009. 4:33 AMmartynbiker says:

all you need to do is get some elecricians tape and tape round the tins lid. OR put it in a plastic bag and tape it up. It wont leak or get wet then. Think outside the Box!

Jul 9, 2009. 1:21 PMthepelton says:

Or put the Altoids box in a ziplock bag.

May 9, 2009. 3:07 PMiSmack says:

Think outside the Altoids tin ;)

Jul 2, 2009. 11:01 AMpyrojunkie says:

lol

Apr 8, 2009. 5:59 PMMadScience#1 says:

May 8, 2009. 8:30 PMjoshuaglawrence says:

ME TOO! I LOVE YOU WE ARE SO A LIKE <3 ALWAYS REMEMBER CHOCALATE NIPPLES

May 17, 2011. 1:39 AMDingostrategy says:

Yep - absolutely brilliant. Well done.

I would like to propose adding citronella to your wax - nice smell and no mosquitoes, FTW!

May 26, 2009. 9:22 PMcogni says:

Good idea about the freezer. If you put any candles in the freezer for half an hour or so, they burn more evenly, even if the freezing happened a while ago.

May 16, 2011. 10:06 PMThe Locksmith says:

That is fascinating! How does it work?

Jan 24, 2011. 10:39 AMbaven says:

i have built this one

Nov 16, 2010. 11:12 AMrudycoaltrain says:

Good job. You inspired me to make one with the remnants of one of my wife's yankee candles.

Jul 29, 2009. 5:39 PMERCCRE123 says:

when i made mine i wanted to fill up the wax all the way. Forgot to cover the hinge holes with tape and had a huge mess all over my counter

Jul 25, 2010. 11:56 AMvastly11 says:

I had the same problem :(

Apr 3, 2010. 4:38 PMthepelton says:

I found some metal boxes at the food store for christmas cookies. They were on sale because they're out of season now. They were round, and about four inches across by half an inch deep. I was thinking they could be used for a project like this.

Mar 14, 2010. 12:57 PMzaarenoc says:

If you are stranded in a snow drift and have to be there a while this kind of candle will provide enough heat in the car so you won't freeze. Just keep a window cracked open about an 1/8 of an inch.

I used to carry one of those big candles about 4-inches in diameter in a number 10 can filled a quarter full with sand.

Feb 8, 2010. 8:08 AMlieuwe says:

get some magnesium flakes and mix it in with the wax, should result in a bright white flame(more light=good)

Feb 1, 2010. 11:08 AMEaKLondon (author) says:

Thanks for all the feedback, I plan on making an updated version of this with some improvements to the design.

Jan 31, 2010. 2:51 PMblodefood says:

Nice compact emergency candle, but what happens when it burns down to the hot glue? Would you get toxic fumes? I think I would keep it to only three wicks spread out, though. The wax would melt and drown the flames if you used them all at once.

Jan 3, 2010. 9:32 PM

CybergothiChe says:

sweet! what a great idea! :)

Nov 8, 2009. 6:28 PMbassclarinet23 says:

Try making the wax out of assorted crayons. That might look cool.

Sep 24, 2009. 5:57 PMthe duck tape queen says:

wow this is a great idea, I might try this. But, how cool do u think it would be to make is a multi colored candle by using more than one color crayon? :)