Wine Bottle Candle

by Juan Pablo Blancas Marí

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS:

1. First choose your favorite wine, and empty that bottle until the last drop. TIP: have someone to toast with you, no one likes lonely drinkers.
2. Then, fill a bucket with water and put the bottle in there, so the label can loosen. If you can leave the bottle soaking during the night is better. TIP: put some soap on the water.
3. Start peeling the label off the bottle, don’t use sandpaper or any sharp tools or you can scratch de bottle, and you don’t want that. TIP: use a dish fiber and rub it until your arm hurt.
4. Once you got your clean empty and beautiful wine bottle, the cutting fun begins. I cut my wine bottle at 14 cm (6.5 inch give or take) measuring from the bottom, but you can make the part where the candle goes taller or shorter, the decision is yours.

    

5.  Proceed to scoring and separate the bottle using your awesome Kinkajou (I love to say that word) and start sanding. TIP: put special effort in on the big part of the bottle, because that´s the one that people are going to see, the bottom part is going to be on the table so take it easy.

6.  Now your bottle is cut and sanded, it´s time to add some glue. I use some general use silicone, it´s great with glass. Put some silicone around the hole in the bottleneck (where the wine flows) and some more on the bottom, in the sunken part of it. And put the two parts together, hold firmly and straight then let it go and leave it like that at least 5 hours or through the night.

  

7.  Once you have your bottle all glued. It´s time to get hot. We´re going to need some wax for this step, you can use gel wax, colored wax, scented wax, plain wax or even recycle some old candles. Put the wax on a pan or stove safe container (one that you don’t use much) and put it on the fire until the wax is melted. Very carefully pour the wax on the bottle with a candlewick already on it, and fill the bottle until you want it. TIP: put an old nut or a beer or soda cap strapped on one end of the candlewick so it doesn’t move around when you pour the wax. Also you can tie up the other end of the candlewick to a pencil and put it on top of the cut bottle so the candlewick ends up straight and the candle burns nicely.

  

8. Let the wax saddle, and then pour some more wax to fill the gaps. You only should do this one time, but if you see more holes on the candle after it saddles you can repeat the process as many times as you consider. 

9.  The project is almost over. Once you have your candle ready, I recommend cutting a piece of soft fabric the same size of the bottom of your candle and glue it, so the edge of the bottle doesn’t scratch any of your furniture.

 

10.  Enjoy a nice dinner by candlelight.

MATERIALS REQUIRED:

1. Wine bottle or any round bottle
2. A Kinkajou Bottle Cutter and Included Accessories
3. Sand Paper (Finishing Kit)
4. Tube of  general use silicone
5. Wax: Gel, colored, scented, plain, recycle candles
6. Heat resistant container to melt down the wax
7. Round piece of soft fabric