How to Make a Homemade Butter Candle

From Birthdays to Intro to Interior Design 101, candles can make any moment more magical and special and can also be used to create a soothing ambience. Making a candle out of butter is a great way to save money and create that soothing atmosphere. This method is simple, inexpensive and can be used to get rid of those old pieces of butter lying in your fridge. This project shouldn’t cost you more than 10 dollars with most of the expense coming from the bars of butter itself. The time required to make 4 candles was about 2 hours but that is inclusive of the hour that the candles are cooling. This project is going to show you how to make 4 small candles out of butter and string! Your final product  should look like the picture below.

Step 1: Gather Materials

You will need the following items to make 4 candles.

2 sheets of newspaper
0.25 lb. bar of butter
7cm Cotton string
4 2-Ounce Plastic Shot glasses
Microwavable Cup / Bowl
Parchment paper
Chopsticks/Skewers
Lighter
Microwave
Fridge/Freezer

The picture above should contain all the necessary materials you will need.

Step 2: Creating a Workstation

Create a workstation preferably a table and lay down sheets of newspaper to avoid a mess. Use tape to avoid the paper from moving. 

Step 3:

Cut the parchment paper into 10 cm x 10 cm square sheets. You should have the same number of sheets as the number of 2-ounce plastic glasses that you have. These sheets will make sure your plastic glasses dont melt and avoid a mess

Step 4:

Place the cut out 10x10cm sheets on top of each plastic shot glass. Each glass will have one sheet over it as shown below. You want the center of the sheet to be on the center of the shot glass as shown above.

Step 5:

Using your finger press down to create a cavity in the glass. Make sure not to pierce the parchment sheet

Note: If you pierce the parchment sheet start at step 3 again.

Step 6:

Take the 0.25 lb bar of butter and place it in your microwavable cup / bowl. I was able to use a small microwavable cup as my heating vessel. It might be easier to cut the bar into two pieces.

Step 7:

Place the microwavable cup / bowl with the butter in the microwave and set it for 30 seconds on a high setting. If the butter is not melted, heat it for another 10 seconds. Allow the bowl/cup to cool for 5 seconds.

Caution: Make sure to check if your cup/bowl is microwavable, otherwise your cup might start to burn and melt all over the microwave

Step 8:

Pour the melted butter from the microwavable cup/bowl into the shot glasses with parchment paper in them. This step is very messy, make sure that you dont spill any hot butter on yourself

Step 9:

Place the shot glasses in the freezer and allow it to set for at least 2 hours. If you don’t have a freezer but have a fridge, you can place the shot glasses in the fridge but make sure that it sits for atleast 4 hours.

Step 10:

After waiting for an hour, take the shot glasses out of the freezer. The butter should have become fairly solid. If it is still a liquid,go ahead and wait for another hour.

Step 11:

Fold the Parchment paper on the edges of the glass and pull it out of the shot glass

Step 12:

Open the parchment paper to reveal the butter piece. Place the butter piece in the shot glass from which you removed it and gently rub the top of the butter with your finger so that the top surface of the candle is even. Do so with all four glasses and it should look pretty close to something above

Step 13:

Using the skewer, drill through the butter at the center of the candle going all the way through to the bottom of the glass.

Note: Be gentle with the skewer. If the butter seems to be fairly hard, go ahead and wait for a couple of minutes. The room temperature should be able to melt the butter.

Step 14:

Cut the cotton string at 5 cm. This will act as a wick for the candle.

Step 15:

Place the string on the hole making sure that the 3/4 of the string lies on either side of the hole and use the skewer to push the string all the way to the bottom of the candle as shown above.Use your finger to gently rub the surface of the candle to seal up the hole.

Step 16:

You are almost done. Your candles should have wicks in them. Use your scissor to cut any excess off the candle. After you are done your candles should look like these

Step 17: Finishing Steps

Use your lighter and light up your candles. Congratulations! You made a candle out of butter and string!

Caution: The candle can pose a fire hazard if used near any flammable or explosive material.