Repouring Old Candles for NEW Candles

It's a common household  theme: You have 13 almost completely used candles at your house.  I have 13 almost completely used candles at my house (and I don't even think I'm a "candle person"  all mine have been gifts) ... I actually keep them in a box in my closet.  Apparently, I've been preparing for this candle project  for years and didn't even know it.  

What I used for my first new SUPER candle

these are all the candles I used, the wick (I got a pack of 5 from Hobby Lobby for a couple of bucks)  I used the pliers to reach into the hot wax and pull out the old wick.  and I used a pair of Husband's thick (never used before) fishing gloves to handle the hot glass containers. The tall container with the pink candle in it is what I used to be my new holder.  It was a Home Interiors Candle my mom gave me years ago and I really like the shape and weight of the holder.  

 btw, I've permanently taken ownership of those gloves.  They are fantastic!  Great for handling hot things.  And I may or may not have used them to reach into the oven and pull of a tray of chicken nuggets during the candle making process.

What I did:
-Put about 3 inches of water in a saucepan on the stove.  Towards the end of the project, I had to refill the water due to evaporation.
-I started by melting the one in the big container that I was going to use again.  When it was all melted, I pulled out the old wick, put in the new one and set it aside for the pink bottom layer to harden.
-And moved on to melting the white ones next.  (I added one of my mason jar lid rings around one of the jars so they wouldn't bump into each other while they were shaking/melting in the boiling water.  I was a little afraid they would shatter)
- I pulled out those wicks and after the pink had hardened completely, I poured the white on top of it.
-and continued adding layers until I was finished.

For the small pink candle, I melted it in one of the jars the white ones was in after they had been poured.

this is the first two layers after the white had hardened

And this is the finished result of my first candle.  I really , really love it.  And besides the $2 for the 5 wicks, it was completely free.  score.

The night after I finished the first one, I was browsing at walmart and found IDENTICAL jars for $1.67 each.  So, of course, I gathered a few more used candles and made two more.

1, 2, and 3

From this process, I learned that I pretty much only have white, pink and red candles.  (there's one purple one that's still in the box with lots more white ones!)

Also, you don't have to do layers like I did.  You could mix them all together at once.  It's a great way to get some more use out of your old candles for mostly free.