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.

Step 1: Materials

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

Step 2: Preparing the Tin

I cut the top of the matchbook off and cut off the striker parts of the box. I then taped the matchbook into the inside top part of the tin. I used tape because if the matches ran out I could take it off and add another matchbook. Using hot glue I glued the strikers into the tin right next to the matches.

Step 3: Making the Candle

I took the wicks from the candle and hot glued them into the tin.
Then I melted down the candles inside a soup can that was placed in a pot of water.
When it was melted I poured it in around the wicks in the tin.
As the wax was cooling I cut down the wicks to the right size, (about the top of the tin) and took the left over pieces to make more wicks.
I then melted some red crayon wax and mixed it into the candle wax to add some color to it.
To get the wax to cool faster I put it into the freezer for a few minutes.

Step 4:

When the wax was cooled I lit one of the wicks and well it works, now I have an emergency candle any time I need it.

Comments

[smbrown]

RUINED MY POTHOLDER

[LilTex]

Clean it out

[SeanR149]

Pretty slick idea, thank you for sharing. I have purchased several tins of Altoids for this reason. They are great for all kinds of stuff.

[terry2432]

this looks good and i will be making one.thanks

[aerhahedhe]

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

[TannerA1]

Same here

[vastly11]

I had the same problem :(

[frogmama]

That's a great 'ible. I like how the matches are included in it. I also like how the altoids tins would stack pretty efficiently, too. Do you think for long-term storage or heat concerns, one should protect the matches from the wax? Like with a piece of cardboard or something between them?

[bogie4646]

I'd just leave the cover on the pack of matches

[cogni]

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.

[The Locksmith]

That is fascinating! How does it work?

[careyfisher]

I think you open the lid and light a match then light the candle.

[TheREAL_Xman]

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

[lj0000]

careful when u use this, especially if u accidently close the lid. the candle fire will ignite the matches and cause a nasty flash/fire.

[munchman]

Good idea! I'll do that when I make mine

[l_skywalker]

yeah but that would effect its portability, you could unhook the top of the lid and still have the stuff on the inside of the lid

but take off the lid entirely when in use. when not in use the candle wont be on (duh) and allow u to close it.

just saying... do what you want either way. :D

[Bartboy]

? You should win the nobel prize, you are genius!

[tyler9]

if you closed the lid, wouldn't it snuff out the fire

[awang8]

Well... Eventually. The air is 20% oxygen so it has to burn that out before it snuffs out.

[dkfa]

you could put the stuff on the top of the lid..