We love buying candles that smell and look beautiful, and it always feels like a waste to throw them out once they've fully burnt down.

So we always try to upcyle them to create homes for our many houseplants.

The smaller candle jars are the perfect size for new plant cuttings to root in, and some of the larger candles make perfectly reasonable adult plant pots. There's a use for any size.

These simple steps will help you clean out your candle jars (with minimal fuss and mess) and get them prepared to house your lovely plants.

Supplies

Old burnt-out candles
Kettle
Toothbrush
Potting soil
Gravel or stones *Optional
Plant

Step 1: Clearing Out the Wax (The Easy Way)

Getting the last of the wax from the bottom of a finished candle can be a messy business. Especially if you're just dragging a spoon or a cloth around it.

That's why we use this simple hack instead. Simply add boiling water!

Then, watch as the wax melts and bubbles up to the surface.

If you leave it for an hour or so, the water will have cooled and you'll have a perfectly solid disc of wax of the surface that you can just lift off. Voila.

You can even save the wax to create another candle later down the line. Just melt down a few of these discs and pour back into a pot with a new wick.

Step 2: Cleaning Up the Pots

Once you've got the wax out, there's still probably going to be scorch marks (and maybe stickers) that need to be removed.

Alas, there's no real hack for this part. Just some soapy water and a good old-fashioned scrub will do the trick.

A toothbrush can be a big help here too.

Step 3: Planting Up

Depending on your plant choice, you may want to add some pebbles at the bottom of the pot. You're not going to be able to drill any drainage holes into a glass pot, so creating a little bit of drainage space can go a long way.

Otherwise, simply add your potting soil (or other appropriate substrate) loosely to about 3/4 of the way to the top.

Dig an appropriately sized depression into the soil and carefully lower your plant into the soil. Gently packing down the soil around the roots.