DIY Chai Tea-Scented Candle

My partner and I hate bad lighting in our home, and hate unnecessary waste even more. To battle the blues in our badly-lit apartment each evening, we bought hoards of eco-friendly candles which we scattered around our space, hyggelig up the place each night. But as the days went on, we found ourselves with numerous empty wax covered jars and silver aluminum tealight holders kicking around our apartment. It felt so wasteful to keep buying more when I knew from childhood craft projects, if my 12-year-old self could make candles, my 32-year-old self probably could too. I decided to start experimenting with items I had in my cupboard and discovered this tea infused vanilla chai mix, which is amongst my favorite concoctions.

It took much less time than I imagined and I was able to upcycle old jars, chipped teacups and other random objects on top of the empty candle holders we had building up. This DIY makes a lovely gift for friends and family, so easy to personalize and enjoyable to create! I used Numi’s Golden Chai with vanilla extract for mine as that’s what I have in my house (and drink regularly), but feel free to experiment with other teas, oils and extracts with liberty as there are plenty of combinations that will undoubtedly invigorate the senses suitably.

INGREDIENTS (for two candles)

1 teabag or serving of loose Numi Golden Chai

2 tablespoons of vanilla extract

Soy wax (you need double the size of your vessel – so 2 cups of soy wax for 1 cup of wax)

Upcycle-able jars, vintage teacups, whatever

100 ml of coconut oil or olive oil

Organic cotton / hemp string

Pot / pan

Something to wrap your chord around

Dried flowers (optional)

HOW TO

1. Soak your tea and vanilla overnight with the oil, letting it infuse.
2. Wrap your cotton / hemp string around a penny.
3. Melt the soy wax in your least favorite pan with the oil and mix continuously until it becomes liquid.
4. Dip your penny and liquid string into the wax and place it into your vessel, wrapping it around a butter knife to hold it up taught and centered.
5. Pour the wax into the vessel and set it somewhere cool to set. You can add the dried flowers now too.
6. If you are having trouble cleaning your pan, fill it to boil with a bit of soap and any leftover wax should come off.
7. Trim the string.
8. Enjoy!