HOW TO: Clean Out Old Candles

Hey Divas, I am back with another How To today! This is one of my favorites! 

I have done this MANY times! 

Today I am going to teach y'all how to clean out those old candle jars! I will also show y'all a few ideas on what to use the jars for!
I have currently only done this with Bath and Body Works Candles. I'm sure it would work the same with the 3 Wick Better Homes and Gardens candles you can get from Walmart. (They look very similar to the B&BW) I have a few of these candles so I will update y'all on how the cleaning out process of those goes when they burn out!

Lets get this show on the road!

The Supply List:

Old Candle

(Mine is a SUPER old candle from Bath and Body works in the scent Cranberry Pear 

Bellini)

Butter Knife

Steel Wool Soup Pad

Sponge

(Mine is this super awesome sponge called a Scrub Daddy)

Glass Cleaner

Paper Towels

NOT PICTURED:

Freezer

Sink

Now that we have all that gathered lets jump on in!

The first thing you want to do is let your candle burn until the wick has completely burnt out. Once that is done let the wax harden. 

Now that the wax is hard again, we are going to put the candle in the freezer. 

I left mine in overnight. I found that it works best this way. I have left it in the freezer for a little as two hours. It will still work...you will just have to work harder to get it clean! 

Now fast forward to the next day. Remove the candle from the freezer and set it on the counter. 

You can see where the wax has cracked...Thats really good because it makes this next step easier!

Now you want to take your butter knife and simple wedge it between the crack. This will loosen up the rest of the wax and help it come out. 

(If your wax did not crack don't worry. Simply push down with your butter knife and it will crack like that)

Once you have done that flip your candle upside down and let the wax fall out.

Now I will say this was the easiest wax removal out of all the candle I have ever cleaned out. So if you find that there is still wax left work with your butter knife until the wax loosens more. Also, most the time not all of the wick tabs will come up. Just run hot water over them for about 30 seconds and they should come up with little effort.

Now that we have removed all the wax and wick tabs, you will want to remove the label!

Simply pull the label off

Easy right? 

Now we move to the sink...Flip the candle jar upside down and turn your water on as hot as you can handle... *PLEASE BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURN YOURSELF!*

Let the water run on the bottom label for about 30 seconds. Now take your sponge and rub until the label is completely gone.

Now that the bottom label has been removed lets move on to the wax residue that is left in the jar. Flip the jar over and run hot water into the jar. Let that sit for about a minute. Once that is done take your Steel Wool Soup Pad and start scrubbing the inside and sides until all the residue is gone! You will also want to scrub the outside as well! 

Now rinse that out and clean it with glass cleaner!

And you are DONE!

Pretty cool right? I love all the possibilities of what you can do with these! Here are a few things I have done! 

Cotton Swabs and Cotton ball holder!

Make-up Brush and Lippies Holder!

I even used it to make a Mini Manicure Set one time as a gift! I gave her one of my decorative lids and told her about all the uses! She LOVED it!

So what do y'all think? Will you be trying it out? 

ALSO: If you remove the wax tabs from the excess wax...I'm sure you could use the wax in a wax burner! If anyone tries this out let me know how it goes! 

If you have ANY questions at all please let me know! I will try to help out the best I can! 

Let me know how this works out for y'all! Send me pictures so I can see! :) 

Also if y'all have any more ideas on what to use these for, let me know! I would love to hear/see them!

Thank you so much for checking out my How To! Check back for more How To's in the future!

Until next time Divas!

Much love,

Hannah, Southern Diva

HOW TO: Glitter Light Switch Cover

Heyy Divas! I know it has been a while and I am so sorry for that! I kinda took a small break from my DIY lifestyle but have no fear...I'm back at it! 

Here lately I have been in total room makeover mode...DIY style! I am all about saving a little by doing it yourself! I was looking at my light switch over the other day and was thinking...Man I really need to vamp that up a little! Sooo...Here it goes! 

The Supply List:

Plastic Light Switch Cover

(I got mine from Walmart for about 75 cents)

Mod Podge

Extra Fine Glitter

(This is important because the bigger the glitter the more likely you are to have gaps)

Rust-Oleum Gloss Clear

(Any clear gloss will work, this is just what I had on hand)

Flat Head Screw Driver

Paint Brush

Paper Plate

Craft Tray (optional) 

(I found this in my craft bucket and had no idea I had it before now. You can use a paper plate for this part)

Lets get started! 

Start by painting on an even layer of Mod Podge all over the Light Switch Cover. Make sure you get the sides as well

Once that is complete lay the light switch cover down on your craft tray/paper plate. 

Now add your glitter! (Don't be afraid to go a little over board)

(NOT PICTURED)

I failed to take a picture of me doing the screws (you can see them sitting on the side of the craft tray) What I did for this part is painted on a little Mod Podge and just suck them in some of the extra glitter on the side. 

I let that sit for about 20-30 minutes. Once I felt it was dry enough for me to pick up I transferred the cover and screws to the paper plate. 

THE PART IS IMPORTANT!!!

If you skip this part you will have glitter everywhere! 

I took it outside and sprayed both with a layer of the Clear Gloss. 

I let it dry for about an hour and sprayed another layer. 

While I waited I transferred the excess glitter back into the glitter container. Super easy with this nifty craft tray! Totally in love with this thing!

Once everything was dry I brought it in and put it on! I love the way this looks! 

I think this is a great and easy way to dress up any old light switch cover! This one is actually blue but for some reason all my pictures make it look different...except for the one outside. The outside picture is the actually color! I think it turned out super cute! 

The total cost really isn't that much. I spent about $4 on the Mod Podge and about $3 on the glitter... Both of which I will be reusing many times! If I had to guess I would say totally cost is between $3-$4!

Well I really hope y'all enjoyed this! There will be many more post to come! I am in the process of slowly but surely redoing my bathroom...DIY style! 

Check back soon for new HOW TO's! 

Until next time Divas!

Much Love,

Hannah, Southern Diva