Reusing Yankee Candle Jars
Our major repurposing project this week comes courtesy of Yankee Candle. I found an old jar candle with a stubby wick and not much wax to boot in one of the boxes of stuff we grabbed to set up home while we’re away from Berlin. Who knows where it came from. A wedding present, maybe? In any case, you know me: time to repurpose.
Filling the jar with jewelry is such an easy way to see what I have… and actually remember to wear it. Sure, drawers and jewelry boxes work just fine. But a sleek, free display case – who can pass that up?
Old candle jars are such a tricky case for repurposing, anyway. You can’t store food in them – the plastic ring has permanently absorbed the candle scent. Plus the jars are short, wide, and un-stackable, which is super important in kitchens without much storage like ours.
Removing the excess wax was pretty simple. I’ve heard about getting big pieces out by sticking the jar in the freezer, which didn’t seem entirely practical in this case (how would you get wax out of a small lip?). So here’s what I did:
- Boil hot water with candle sitting in pot, careful not to let water get in jar.
- When the wax was melted, I poured it all into a smaller jar. I had to reheat the wax a few times to get it all out.
- The jar was still warm as I used a paper towel to wipe out the thin coat of wax and soot.
- The smell was still pretty strong, so I threw it in the dishwasher.
Have any other ideas for reusing candle jars? Makes me wish we had more candles floating around! Don’t forget to send a few pictures our way if you do.
June 29th, 2009 at 4:21 am
I’ve cleaned them out by putting them in the oven while it preheats which doesn’t take much time at all. Pour the old wax out, and as you say pry off the wick, then into the dishwasher.
Then what? I have some crafting supplies in them but mostly the jars are too big. Some I have are not YC so they do have flat lids but still don’t want to stack too well I’ve donated a bunch on Freecycle to children doing art projects, prob the colored sand? I do have some empty ones to try and make my own scented candles – someday. :-)
June 29th, 2009 at 4:35 am
I don’t have too many of those candle jars but I love them, but not the smell! Yessh… those things smell to high heaven. I imagine a line of them along a window sill filled with pretty momentos: beach shells, marbles.. who knows. I’m not one into collecting things, I have kids to take care of that. But collections kept tidy in pretty jars sounds delightful.
June 29th, 2009 at 6:13 am
I put Q-tips in mine, you could also use them for badaids, cotton balls or bath salt:-)
June 29th, 2009 at 6:43 am
When I first read the title “Reusing Yankee…” I immediately thought of the soda pop cup my Mom got at a Yankee game and gave to my husband. If you want to talk about reusing, let me tell you about this cup. He drinks everything in this cup (as long as it is cold). He drinks several Yankee cups of water a day (1 Yankee cup is about 16oz), milk, juice, pop, you name it and it’s been in the cup. We don’t have a dishwasher so we must wash the cup by hand which means that it still looks fairly new. Most people just throw ball game cups away after the game, but my husband is still using his religiously 2 years after the game.
June 29th, 2009 at 8:05 am
I love this project Katie. I don’t have any yankee candles, but if I ever do – I’ll definitely follow suit when the time comes. Pretty beads in there!
June 29th, 2009 at 8:15 am
Love your ideas. A few in the bathroom would look really beautiful with cottonballs and such. I need to remember that for our apartment! And a preheating oven? I never would have thought of it. Thanks ladies!
Michelle, I love that your husband is getting such great use out of a cup that probably lands in the garbage 90% of the time. Way to go! Sounds like you have a loyal cheerleader.
Katie
June 29th, 2009 at 10:16 am
I have a jar like that to hold my buttons. It makes for a pretty & crafty decorative element.
June 29th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Great idea Katie!!
June 29th, 2009 at 11:40 am
What a great idea! I’ve seen jars like that in the store, but this is a great way to use something that no longer serves its original purpose.
June 29th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
buttons, small shells, loose change, pebbles, marbles….anything small and of interest to you.
June 29th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I love to reuse those old candle jars!
June 29th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
I love to use old glass jars too. An easy to get the last part of the candle out is to freeze it, it will just pop out once its frozen!
July 9th, 2009 at 4:27 am
Great repurose! I keep all of the glass jars that make there way into my house. I like to use them for leftovers, stuff in the pantry, craft supplies, flower vases, etc. I saw on a blog where a gal turned her jar into a mini garden, I LOVE THAT!!! So need to try that idea.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Great tip! I have a bunch of YC around here. :) Visiting from Kimba’s party. :)
July 9th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Great idea! I always try to think of things to do with empty baby food and candle jars. They seem like they could have so many more uses!
July 10th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Great idea! I’ve seen these a yard sales before and have a few jars languishing in my cupboards.
July 11th, 2009 at 9:42 am
I have a Yankee candle jar in my freezer right now as we speak. haha!
I like to use them for cotton balls, q-tips, etc. You could also use them in the kitchen for spices, dry noodles, etc.
July 12th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Hello Katie – that’s a great idea you have! I’ve wondered about a different way to remove candles from a jar. I only knew to put it in the freezer, but it doesn’t always remove it all. Thank you for sharing!
Blessings,
Marie
September 11th, 2009 at 7:51 am
where can I buy empty candle jars?
September 11th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Jim, I’d check with thrift shops. We tend to collect and reuse jars constantly, so that’s where I’d start if not your own pantry.
Katie
December 30th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
What about using the lids as paperweights? Put your favorite picture or sticker in the lid
January 7th, 2010 at 7:51 pm
I use a lot of candles in jars and usually just throw them in the recycle bin. But after thinking about it I think I will start cleaning them out and looking for ways to reuse the jars. Possibly find someone who will reuse them.
January 19th, 2010 at 11:28 am
I keep flour, salt, sugar, pasta, coffee and rice in old jar candles. Another idea is seed (herb, veggies, flowers) storage.
January 31st, 2010 at 11:13 am
It is great to reuse the jars, but I also wanted to provide a use for the leftover wax. If you are the camping type, or know someone that is, making “firestarters” is a great way to get rid of that wax.
Take an old egg carton and fill the bottom cups with either dryer lint or sawdust. Pour candle wax inside the cups to saturate the lint/sawdust and let cool. When you need to start a fire, tear off one or two of the cups and light it. These starters burn hot and long and they work very well (better than the commercial ones in my opinion) to start a quick fire. Also, the are fairly moisture resistant although I wouldn’t dunk them in water.
As a side note, some people are concerned about using dryer lint due to potentially toxic smoke from synthetic fabrics. However, synthetic fabrics only produce a minuscule amount of lint (if any), so it is still mostly cotton and entirely safe.
April 12th, 2010 at 10:01 am
I keep baking soda in a small jar. It is easier to measure out of the jar than out of the box. No spillage. I also keep a small jar of salt and one of sugar for the same reasons. If I fix a cup of tea, it’s easier to pull down my little jar of sugar and measure out a teaspoon or two than pull down my big storage container of sugar. I believe all the little jars had once been cute jars of jelly.
I printed a page of address labels with a pretty little design of stacked coffee cups with saucers. I write the contents on them (Salt, Sugar, Baking Soda etc.) and put a label on each jar. If I take a pitcher of sweetened ice tea and a pitcher of unsweetened ice tea to a gathering, I use the labels to distinguish them. The labels are veru handy.
April 18th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
I grow my own herbs, the small jars are great for gift giving. Since I live in FL moisture is a problem, I like using the large jars for storing sugar, flour etc. They always look nice on the counter. I have had no odor residue problems as I let they air out for awhile after washing them.
September 19th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
I like to fill empty candle jars for filling with dried flowers or fragrant herbs to put in the bathroom or kitchen. You can heighten the sent by adding a few drops of fragrance oils like you would use in a burner put in microwave for 15-20 seconds and it will provide hours of fragrance through the house. Of course on your desk or in your study you can put pencils, pens, ruler for easy accesss. Also great for crayons markers pipe cleaners for easy storage of crafts with kids.
October 25th, 2010 at 6:07 am
I am using my candle jars for cocoa and tea bags I am going to try putting some scrap booking paper on the inside to hide the stuff and make it match my kitchen. I like to use the remaining wax in a tart burner
and i think the easiest way to get to wax out of the jar is to take a butter knife and push it in the middle of the candle it causes the candle to crack in halve just do it one or two time more to each halve and they fall right out.
November 6th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
can i use them for jam?
November 21st, 2010 at 8:55 am
Try running hot water around the bottom to get the wax out. I tried it, and it was amazingly simple. The wax around the edges melts just enough to slide around. You have to break up the large piece first to get it out. There might be some residual wax on the sides. I ran hot water inside and wiped out the residue with paper towels and then I used a scrubber sponge for remaining residue. I think I’m going to soak the rubber gasket in Clorox water (very diluted) to see if the odor will come out. If it does, I’ll use the jar for tea bags, sweetner packages, etc. If it doesn’t, I’ll use it for beads, buttons, colored glass pebbles, shells, etc.
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:49 am
I have tried a number of things but have been unable to remove the Yankee logo and stripes from the empty jars. I noticed on the jar Katie uses in the picture on her blog has the paint removed. Any suggestions?
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:55 am
Brenda, my jars just had giant stickers on them. I just had to pull them off. I know that doesn’t help your situation. Some of those painted-on-labels are so intense that they don’t even burn off in kilns when artists are melting the glass.
Good luck none-the-less.
Katie
March 14th, 2011 at 9:18 pm
…I have used my candle warmer to get the last bit of candle wax out – let it warm up, turn into liquid form and it pours right out of the jar… I then take and place the jar in HOT water with dishwashing liquid – to make sure all residue is removed. This works very well. Place in the dishwasher and it’s good to go!
July 16th, 2011 at 10:20 am
It all worked out and yes, the smell is a bit strong even after but, its ok! I used mine to store great quantities of marijuana and it has a hint of Vanilla Lime. Please don’t delete me for mentioning this, but I did like the Advice and it was a good D.I.Y very simple. Thank you!
August 26th, 2011 at 9:34 am
@ Carlos, you made me bust out laughin
August 26th, 2011 at 9:38 am
I seperate my girls hair accessories. The jars are clear so they can see what color rubber bands they’re diggin for and in another hair clips and another bobby pins. I used to always be picking these up off the counters and floors. Now that they have their own space, my girls have been pretty good about putting their hair stuff back in its jar.
September 25th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
Storage for artist paint brushes or makeup brushes? Artist pencils? I love the Archipelego 60 hour candles that you can find at some Whole Foods stores and those jars are great.
September 27th, 2011 at 12:25 pm
The preheated oven trick for getting the last of the candle wax out of the bottle worked like a charm! Thank you for that great idea!!!
November 26th, 2011 at 10:21 pm
To get the wax out, you can use warm water and dishwasher soap. Soak it for a bit and the wax will come right out. Of course, you might have to break it up a bit if it can’t fit out the opening.
December 2nd, 2011 at 7:19 pm
I love all of the tips mentioned above! I have reused the jars for a craft for my daughter’s friends. Each year, I host several children over for a Christmas party where we make crafts. Using ribbon, stickers, stamps & scrapbook paper we decorate the outside of the jar. Then fill with peppermint candy. Tie ribbon around top of jar. Can use adhesive spray to adhere paper. Those cheap foam stickers work well, too. They turn out really cute & the girls are proud to give their parents a handmade gift. :)
December 11th, 2011 at 9:46 am
I use a single edge razor blade (carefully) to scrape off any lables on the outside and bottom of jars. Any residue comes off with GooGone or Oops. Then jars and lids go into the DW.
I chip out the wax with a dull knife and reuse it in those melting burners that use a tea light candle or I fill empty tea light tins or small votive candle holders. I’ve been pilfering wicks from old candles and reusing the wick holders from tea lights or YC after tapping the hole out with an ice pick, inserting a length of wick and pinching it shut with needle nose pliers. Being an old Yankee myself and living by the old New Englander’s motto: Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without” I have great fun with this. However I recently finally ran out of wicks and went on line to buy some and ended up buying a candle making starter kit and frangrance oils!!! Hahaha-just what I need-a new hobby!!!!
December 20th, 2011 at 2:34 pm
i have a candle in the glass jar.. just broke the glass on the top side…wht to with the candle ? is there any way to fix and use this jar ?
December 23rd, 2011 at 7:11 am
I melted the wax in a saucepan and weighed a wick made of parcel string with a small screw, then poured the hot wax into old shot glasses. these I gave as token gifts to friends saying that they were home made and they were amazed! now will re-use the jars for cotton wool balls and Q-tips in the bathroom. Lovely tips!
January 17th, 2012 at 4:16 am
I’m a gardener and I love to use these jars to share cut flowers with friends. I always have pieces of ribbon to reuse, and I make a little gift tag to slip thru the ribbon. I love the mention of a paper weight for the lid. I use the lid in the summer to hold down a tablecloth when eating outdoors. Just place around the corners of the table.