Rambling About Recycled Candles

Candles and Image by Amber Shehan

Making candles is fun, but candle-remaking is cathartic.

Bit by bit, I drop memories in the form of wax drippings into a pot resting over boiling water. As the bits of colors swirl and mesh, I remember when and for what purpose that candle was burned. This was a blessing for our new home - and this, this next stripe of yellow is from the candle that burned during our anniversary dinner...

My fingers and clothing are rough and speckled with wax, for I am a clumsy and hasty girl. I get myself wound up tight and I start to spin, swirling and melting into my craft like the flecks and flickers of candles from last years journeys now pooling before me.

I pour the wax into waiting jars, layers of my memories building tacky rainbows with which to light my nights.

If you are a packrat like I am and you save your candle stubs, send them in to me and I will create recycled candles. I use milk cartons, so they are rougher than a brand new candle, but they will burn longer since they have been melted once before. The cost depends on the amount of wax and cost of shipping.