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How to Make Your Own Tea Lights from Repurposed Materials

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Jonathon Engels, a long-time vegetarian turned vegan, is currently on a trip from Guatemala to... Read More

Candles are great at setting the stage for chilling in the bathtub, having a romantic dinner, or providing atmospheric lighting without using electricity. Buying showcase candles, however, is quite expensive, so many of us candle lovers take the cheaper route and buy tea candles.

Tea candles are wonderfully versatile, self-contained, and inexpensive. Even better, for DIYers, making tea candles is no big deal. Most of the stuff needed to do it can come from repurposed materials.

These candles can be plant-based. They can be scented. They can be placed all over the house to work as beautiful natural lighting. It won’t require a big upfront investment for equipment or materials. It’s something, with very little motivation, we could be doing at home ourselves.

What Materials Are Necessary?

The main ingredients needed for making tea lights are wax, tea light cups, and wicks. For scented versions, essential oils can be chosen to fit your aromatic preferences. Soy wax is a plant-based choice, though rapeseed wax and coconut wax are viable options, too. Tea light cups can be purchased online, as can wicks.

However, there is a good chance some of these ingredients can be sourced from stuff you’ve already got and might be throwing away.

Candle Wax: For those who like candles enough to make their own, there is likely a collection of candles already hanging around. Save the ends, bottoms, and drippings of these candles to melt and make new candles.
Tea Light Cups: The obvious repurposing option here is to simply save the cups from the tea lights you already have. The other repurposing option is to save bottle caps or metal tops for bottles.
Wicks: Lots of natural materials can be used to make wicks. Cotton string, jute twine, paper, and old matchsticks are all awesome options. In general, the wick should be about the size of a matchstick and ideally braided materials.
Essential Oil: Maybe it’s not repurposing, but the same essential oils you use for making natural toothpaste, DIY cleaning projects, and homemade bug repellents can be used for the tea lights, too. Nothing new is required.

How to Make Tea Lights at Home

Once the materials are gathered, there aren’t many tools needed. The wax can be melted in a glass bowl in the microwave or low-and-slow with a double boiler (glass bowl over boiling water). The idea is to heat the wax just enough to become liquid so that it can be poured into the tea light cups. For scented candles, the essential oil should be added at the end of the wax melting process.

A container with a built-in pouring spout, a la a measuring cup, is perfect. If you don’t have one, look for one in a thrift store!

The wicks should be stood in the bottom of the tea light cup. This can be done with a couple of drips of wax sticking it to the bottom before it’s time to pour all the wax in. The wax will fix the wick into position, and then it’s just a matter of pouring the remainder of the wax carefully around the wick so that it remains standing. Fill them as much as possible.

Once the candles are filled, they should be given at least an hour to cool and solidify. At that point, the wicks can be trimmed to about a ¼” above the candlewax. That’s the tea candle ready to use. It’s that simple!

Making a DIY Tea Light Holder

Tons of simple tea light holders can be made from stuff around the house. They can be slipped into jam jars. Drill a hole (or several holes) in a pretty branch or piece of firewood. Paper quill tea candle holders are a fun project that also uses repurposed materials. A dishy plate with some stones on it or a pile of shelled nuts or whole coffee beans is a great tea candle holder. In other words, they can feel right in all sorts of settings.

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