Coffee Scented Candle Pots

Project Items:

Mini flower pots

Smokeless wicks with bases 

Coffee beans, grounded

Cinnamon, 1T

Vanilla, 1T

Soy wax flakes, 1 box

Acrylic paint 

Mod Podge 

Sponge brush

Gold printable paper

Glitter 

Exacto knife 

Sticks or chop sticks

Empty can

Sauce pan, medium size

I had yet another birthday project to complete, so I decided to go a slightly different route. This time I went with candles. I had a few small pots that I was no longer using so I decided to clean them up and turn them into candles. It's something I remember doing as a kid so I figured why not try it again. To make the pots look nicer, I went with acrylic paint, gold leaf, and some glitter.

Once I cleaned them up, I put two layers of white paint on all three pots for a base. Be sure to paint the entire inside of the pot as well, so as the candle burns, the original surface isn't exposed. Once you've done that you are pretty much free to do what you want in terms of design.

I went with one pot to be half glitter, which I got that idea off of Pinterest and really liked the simplicity of it. The second one I also wanted it to be very simple and elegant. I used gold printable paper to write the birthday girl's name on it to stick with the white and gold theme. This was pretty simple and you can print off any font and size off of a Word or Google document. I'm sure there are other websites out there as well that you could use for fun fonts and sizes. Just as a warning though, be sure to have an exacto knife on hand to make cutting the words out much easier!

The third one I wanted to incorporate the Brazilian flag because the birthday girl is Brazilian, but cutting out the printable gold paper turned out to be more challenging due to having not the greatest scissors or an exacto knife. I ended up just going with "Brazil" written in bold letters. My first attempt I made them too small and in cursive writing. This just about drove me nuts and cutting around the letters was too much. If you can have your words cut for you; I would highly recommend doing so. Cutting by hand turned out to be extremely time consuming. 

Finally I moved on to the soy wax and smokeless wick portion. First I placed the base of the wicks in the bottom of the candle to seal off the whole that is normally there for draining the flower pot. You can also use pennies for this if your wick doesn't have a base.

Second I tied the smokeless wick to a chop stick and cut the length of the wick to fit the height of each pot. The stick will hold the wick in place while the wax sets. Be sure to keep the wick as straight as possible. Once the wax sets, simply cut the stick from the wick.

Third melt you soy wax and pour it into each pot to the desired level. Be sure to add any scents at this time too while the wax is melted. I went with a vanilla latte scent by adding a tablespoon of vanilla, some ground coffee beans, and tablespoon of cinnamon. Keep in mind that you will be able to see the coffee beans and cinnamon in the wax, so if you are wanting a clean or solid colored wax, you may not want to use only vanilla or other scents. Also be sure to follow the directions on melting the wax. If you put it directly in the sauce pan you cannot use it for food preparation. Also be careful not to burn yourself when handling the can during the pouring process. The microwave is also a good option, especially if you are doing this with kiddos. 

Once you pour up the wax, and let it set, you are all done! To speed up the process you can also place your candles in the refrigerator. Other fun options would be to add color to the wax with old crayons, or different combinations of scents! In addition to using flower pots for a container, you could also use mason jars, cut wine bottles, salsa jars, or wine glasses. Cheers!