Make a bottle-shaped candle

This instructable will show you how to make this funky candle with very little effort.

This'd make a nice home-made present for grandparents or something like that, but kids should not attempt this without an adult's help.

You'll need the following:
A glass bottle, any size or type
A load of candle wax from new, used or dead candles
A candle wick (or 100% cotton string)
A small weight such as a fishing weight or washer

and you'll also need:
Cooker hob to melt candle wax
A container to melt candles in, I'm using a fizzy drink can with the top chopped off
Gloves or something to handle the hot container with
A hammer or something to break glass with.

Step 1 Preparation

Clean out your bottle and make sure it's dry.

Cut a length of wick that is longer than your bottle's length, you can shorten it after.

Tie a weight to the bottom of the wick, this will help it stay straight.

Have everything close to hand and you'll need to work fast to make sure the wax doesn't harden.

Comments

[Spencer101]

I would just like to point out that heating wax over direct heat without a thermometer is very dangerous. Regardless of how low you have the hob turned on, wax can reach "flash point" VERY quickly if not monitored properly and a fire in your kitchen is less than ideal!!

[maxman]

I like the magnet idea.

[muzza182]

You could try it with plastic bottles, some may start to lose shape because of the heat. You could use plaster of paris or something to make two parts to a mold around a bottle, when it's set, take them off, then you don't have to break a bottle every time, just use the two parts of the molds, tapped up, pour in wax, when its set, untape them, and there you have it.

[redwren]

Instead of lowering the wick in and then draping it over something, try tying the wick around a stick first and then lowering it in until the stick rests on the top of the bottle, like you do to make rock candy. Just make sure that the wick hanging off the stick is no longer than the bottle, and trim off the tail so that it doesn't dip into the wax too. When you are done, just slide the stick out of the loop and untie it, or trim it off.

[woutervddn]

you can do it with a plastic bottle.. I did it at the youth movement with plastic bottles. You just need to cut them open with a scalpel, you'll allways see a line where you cutted, so you can try rubbing it with a hot stick (not to hot, you just want it to get smooth not to be dripping again..)

[TechNerd1012]

you could also break the glass cleanly by scoring the glass, heating it up, then introducing some ice cold water to it somehow (such as a spray bottle). The thermal shock will fracture it right along the score.

[pyrorower]

The only problem with that is that in heating the bottle, you could melt/soften the wax...

[TechNerd1012]

true

[TechNerd1012]

The color of this candle actually looks very similar to the color of real cola
you could play off that somehow lol

[Jebotepatak]

Cool idea thanks too bad i only have plastic bottles lying around -_-

[TechNerd1012]

yeah
luckily theyre making more and more of the glass ones again, you can prob find some at Fred Meyer or something

[Miscelinious]

Would it be better to put the wick and weight in first before pouring the wax?

(:

[OfficerKarl]

 It might be a bit harder to pour the wax as Kryptonite said, but it would more likely mean that the wick wouldn't be straight, and the candle wouldn't burn evenly.

"Sorry about the poor light. Here you need to lower the wick into the wax. To keep it as straight as possible, I didn't let the weight touch the very bottom of the bottle."

[Kryptonite]

It would make it harder to pour the wax in though.

[infernisdiem]

I have a candle melting machine, that pours a very fine stream, where when I put the wick in first.

[casman300]

wo great idear would be even better if you could stensil on the logo and writing

could you also do this with the plastic coke bottles or would they melt to fast?

[sladek]

Instead of stencilling designs onto the wax, if you get a bottle that's got embossed writing on it, then when you remove the glass, it'll have an embossed logo on the candle.

You could try plastic, it may melt which would get wax everywhere, also, unlike glass, you'd have to cut the plastic bottle away rather than smash it. This would probably result in score-marks all over the candle

[casman300]

thanks i will make one as soon as i can get a glass bottle

[american-teen95]

this is a great, easy gift. try it!

[scraptopower]

You can melt the wax in that pot in a pan of boiling water to prevent if from over heating and burning.

[Techy]

I made one of these today and used this method. It was slower than putting it directly on the burner but I didn't have any of it burn. Good instructable for those days when you want to make something, but don't want to put a whole lot of effort into it.

[sladek]

You're right, but the reason I used an old can is so I could make a spout.

The average pan doesn't have a spout, making it very hard to pour in to such a small hole.

[danlab]

What reukpower was suggesting was that you put the can in a pot of boiling water to melt the wax, that way the wax won't get too hot and burn.

[sladek]

Oh ok, that makes more sense, and sounds like a better idea too

[Ski999]

Glue a small rare-earth magnet centered to the bottom of the bottle and use a ferrous weight. That should center your wick.

[magickaldan]

Great job, would be a little cooler if you could make a mold of the bottle. to get the true shape of a popbottle.

[sladek]

It would, yeah, but also a lot more effort.

[Koosie]

hahahahaha, that first picture made me think of a Molotov Cocktail!

Molotov Candle, it shines, VERY bright!

[Arano]

i think wrapping the bottle with 1 layer of tape should make it safer (no small pieces of glass flying around when hitt too hard)

[mwwdesign]

Great Instrucable!

Maybe suggest people put the bottle inside a bag of some sort to break the glass? Safer and easier to clean up afterwards.

Going to have to make one myself now!

:)

[craig3]

You should probably add as a safety thing, to warm the bottle up a bit before hand, other wise the fast jump from cold glass to hot wax will crack and smash the bottle

[sladek]

Noted. Thanks for the advice. I've updated the instructable.