Up-cycle, Recycle, and Repurpose…Oh my!

Pinterest.  It  got me thinking about one of their post the other day.   About  a clever recycle project for those pretty “Yankee Candle”  jars.   Once you’ve burned your lovely candle

down to its’ last bit of wick,  what do you DO? with the perfectly good glass jar? On Pinterest, they demonstrated a brilliant idea of melting down all the last little bits of wax, then layer them, one after another (providing the first layer has cooled) while keeping a NEW wick straddled on top of the jar!  There were so many “hits” of  “Wow…why didn’t I think of that.” and “Can’t wait to try this one out!” etc. etc.

But I wondered…. although this idea was indeed thrifty, just how labor intensive would this be?  And just how long would it take to save up just the “right wax” colors that could be layered with the “right” scents?  Would it work combining just any old scent

or would you have to keep all the “food” scents together and all the “seasonal and floral scents” among their own layers?

And where do you get plain ol’wicks? Do they cost much?  Probably not.

My idea for the repurposing these sealed glass wonders came out of necessity.  (I guess most ideas do) I needed a VISUAL,

easy to find at a glance…storage “canisters”.

 

It’s always bothered me.  To just throw out something that is not broken, and  still functions just fine…I mean, really, the dome lid has a pastic SEAL ! on it!    But justifying its’ “potential” worth to  AND storing it for who knows how long….starts to validate the reason to just suck it up and throw it OUT!   

That’s when I had an “AH-HA” moment!

Finally!  It will ACTUALLY prove to be

productive hanging on to those jars!!!

All those empty Yankee Candle jars that I’ve been

saving for (years!)…a good long while.

Ok…so here are a couple of fall candles that are now finished.  (Angel has to get her nose into these projects).  They look all smoky and dull.  (Eeuuuw)

But wait!               (do I sound like a commercial?)

Put the jars in your sink.

 

Fill them up with HOT water.

Very HOT water.

 

And in a few minutes…

about 15 or so.

 

The wax pops up to the top!  ( if your water cools down and the wax is still on the bottom, repeat filling with hot water again.

  Take the wax out.

Throw the wax  away in your kitchen waste basket where

it will gently freshen your trash.

(more noticeable if your trash can is tucked away in a cabinet)

Then simply place the jars in your dishwasher.

They come out all sparkling clean.  Voila!

A cute solution to my craft storage dilemma !

I had a couple of these racks left from my Mother’s house. ( I can remember them from when I was a small girl!)

30 seconds of white spray paint to each of these…wait for them to dry. I Mounted them up on my wall in my office/scrapbooking room;

the jars fit PERFECTLY! (look pretty darn nice too!)

   

So you know how we all collect  buttons…gazillions of buttons.  Mine were stuffed in boxes there…zipped in baggies in drawers here,  jammed in cupboards everywhere.  

Now, I have them sorted by colors…in cute little jars (that didn’t cost a thing). 

I have all my colorful “bling” in one jar…clear bling in another.  Clips and small spools of ribbon stacked in another!

 

I have them hanging above my sewing cabinet.   So…my kitten, AngelLea can easily…

  enjoy them too!

Ahhhhh……Purrrrfect!