DIY: From Yankee Candle to Storage Jar

Hi!

I'm a huge fan of Yankee Candles and regularly stock up on the tarts, but I rarely ever buy a jar. I have two - one that I got with some birthday money (Fireside Treats) and one that I received as a present ages ago (Sandalwood). Now - while I adore the majority of the scents, some just don't appeal to me at all. Unfortunately, the Sandalwood one was one of them. I think because I didn't choose it myself, I got completely sick of the smell pretty quick. I can't even remember who gave it to me, but it's been knocking round the house for at least 4-5 years. I came across loads of ideas for jars on one of my many Pinterest sprees, and thought that instead of having it lying around gathering dust, I'd do something to make it useful again.

Here's the offending candle:

As you can see, there was still an awful lot of wax left in it.

Now - how to get the wax out? We all know that the one thing that melts wax is heat, so I boiled the kettle and poured boiling water into the jar, figuring it would soften the wax. BE CAREFUL if you're doing this. Make sure the jar is on a non-flammable surface, don't touch the glass once the water is in, and pour it in very slowly to avoid cracking. Leave the jar for a while until the water cools to a warm temperature (mine took about 45 minutes). You'll be able to see the wax rising to the surface like a lava lamp.

When the water has cooled down enough so that you can pick the jar up without it being hot, get a spoon and a container and start to scoop the wax out. Don't go with your initial instinct if it's like mine and it tells you to pour that down the sink. MAJOR plumbing issues. The minute it hits the air it's going to harden, so don't use a fancy spoon either. Scoop it out into a container, bag it, and bin it. Pour the water outside.

After a lot of scraping and stabbing, I was left with a big lump of wax that loosened from the bottom. It was soft enough to push a knife through, so I stuck the knife into it, cut it in half, and pulled out the pieces.

A brillo pad got rid of any little bits of wax that were left, and I peeled the label off the front. After a good scrub, I was left with this:

You could use it to store ribbons, craft items, buttons, change, hair accessories - whatever. I use mine to store my cotton pads for nail art.

If you have some Washi tape or ribbon you can pretty it up some more, but I kinda like it plain.