I think it's fair to say that I have a "thing" for candles. I like em. I like lighting them, looking at them, smelling them. I like em. You know those people who hoard candles and stick them in every possible cupboard and drawer? I'm not one of those people. I burn my candles. Even the ones you apparently aren't supposed to burn because they're in the shape of something and once you burn them, they turn into a blobby mess that doesn't look like whatever it was it was supposed to look like anymore. Understand? Doesn't matter. The point is, I like candles.
A few months ago, many months ago now that I think about it, I showed you how to make your own floating candles. Floating candles are incredibly expensive. Apparently the only thing rarer than a floating candle are superpowers.
At the time I was doing the tutorial on floating tea lights, I started working on another kind of floating light. I thought, how brilliant and beautiful and unexpected would it be to have floating taper candles? Very. Very brilliant and beautiful indeed.
When you drop a taper candle into a vase of water it (being made of wax) tries to float and because it's bum end has more wax (which wants to float), the bum end tries to float up to the top. So that's no good. To remedy this you have to weigh the bottom of the taper candle down. And this ... is how you do it.
You need candles, washers, and thumbtacks.
Just scrape the bottom of your candle so it's perfectly flat on the bottom of it isn't already. Then place your washer on it and secure it with the thumbtack. You only get one shot at getting it centred so be precise. Fill your vase with water and drop the candle in. Inevitably it will still be wonky. Lift it out of the water and slide the washer a bit to change the balance. Stick the candle in the water again. This may take as many as 10 tries to get the candle perfectly balanced. But ... it's worth it because look how beautiful!
Cough. Ahem. Cough. So ... this is the point where I tell you the candles got too close to the edge of my glass vase and cracked it. It was that unmistakable sound of C-r-A-C-kkk! I knew what had happened even though I was in the other room. So ... this experiment is kind of a bust. Don't ever try to do this in fact.
Why post it then? So you know not everything I do works out perfectly. And not everything you do will work out perfectly.
However, I should add that to remedy this, all you would have to do is buy washers that are bigger than the base of the candle. That way they'd act like a bumper, stopping the candle from floating right up to the edge of the vase. I will, in the future, buy larger washers and confirm that my theory of bumper candles is true. I believe it is.
But I also believe in superpowers.
Debbie from Illinois
Sheesh, please ignore my spelling mistake!
Debbie from Illinois
Bummer!!!!!!! I love how it looks, too bad it didn't work out. I have a feeling you will use your never ending wisdom to make this idea work. ;)
Karena
Karen you brilliant girl!! I just know the larger washers will do the trick! It is the coolest idea ever. I too burn my candles and also love to give as gifts!
I hope you will join my Valentine's Giveaway!
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
Brigid
ok, so do i have to use pretty thumbtacks or will plain old ugly ones work? maybe you could craft a non-combustible, floating corral of sorts to keep the floaters away from the sides of the vessel. maybe with attractive twigs and stuff?
you know what i mean, right?
Debbie
this looks so cool, I hope the larger washers work :)
Debbie
LeeAnne Bloye
Karen,
What happens when the candle burns down? Do the weights make the smaller candle it go under and drown?
'Tis a very cool idea!
Beth
I was wondering the same thing!! I want to do this for my wedding but need to make sure the candles will continue to burn! :)
Claire
Would a jar/vase made of pyrex work?
Karen
Claire - Thanks! But Pyrex would be even worse, LOL. Pyrex has a tendency to actually explode when quickly going from one temperature to another. If you put hot ingredients into a cold pyrex bowl ... BANG ... it'll explode. Everyone keep thinking ... we'll get it figured out. ~ karen
Sarah
Whoa...scary!
Erica Filpi
Pyrex is horrible *L*. I still remember the day my mom thought it was a good idea to add cold water to the pyrex dish IN the oven with ONLY kolbaska in it. Years later I did the same thing, except my dish burst as I opened the oven and melted into the floor. Oh my.
PS you could make these candles for an outdoor party to float in a pool...
Gayla T
That W was there a minute ago. Now, where did I lay that darn thing. When you get to be my age it's so easy to lay something down and then completely forget where it is. So sorry! W oh, never mind. There it is.
Gayla T
You little Smarty Farty! I love this. I'll bet if you get one of those thick glass vases it would work. I can't wait to see how you solve this cause it really is very pretty. I burn my candles too but also have lots of them in the hutch. Just one of those things you never want to run out of. I mean if you need a good candle at midnight where in the orld would you find one. Just saying.............
Emily P
FREEZER EVEN. WOOPS. !!!
Karen
Hi Emily P - I've actually tested that theory and it has never worked for me. I did a side by side test of a frozen candle and an unfrozen. Both melted the same. I'll do it again and see if it was just a fluke! ~ karen
Emily P
DONT FORGET TO PUT YOUR CANDLES IN THE TREEZER BEFORE USING. THEY LAST TWICE AS LONG!!!! MY TIP THE DAY
Melissa Haight
(I mean, in my first post. GOOD NIGHT!)
Melissa Haight
(Oh... sorry about the missing periods and such in my second last post. Ugh.)
Melissa Haight
(Oh... I should mention: I like that your tacks were pretty.)
Melissa Haight
Dan (fellow chip eating scientist) and I agree - We hypothecate that you are going to need bumper washers at the top of the candle as well as the bottom, which won't work 'cause the candles melt. So, bumpers along the edge of the vase. Will look dumb. A glass ring along the inside of the vase That's some nifty welding. Well, we'll keep thinking. I might dream about it tonight.
Barbie
I love that you posted it anyway!
Heather T
Aw, man! I was going to call FIRST PIN but I see Laura beat me to it. :D
Laura
Oh great! I pinned this before I got to the end! Hopefully everyone will come over from Pintrest and read the whole post. I just loved the photo so much I had to pin it.
Karen
LOL! Great. Post my failures! That's just fantastic. :) Meh. I don't care. I really *do* think it can work, I just need to iron the kinks out. I'll work on it this week. Thanks for pinning. I love it when you all pin! ~ karen!
Sarah Neely
Karen - How about this idea... Use a slightly narrower (but much shorter) glass vase to corral the underwater ends of the tapers? Completely submerge the second glass or bowl, its only purpose would be to keep the tapers from bumping the main vase. And you could choose a vase #2 with a wide enough mouth to still allow the tapers to meander around a bit. Love, love, love your blog + your fantastic successes + your clever ideas + your failures + your sassy haircut. But not in a stalking kind of way.
Marti
I'm just glad you didn't A) cut off your finger (photo #5) or B) start that gorgeous big paper lantern light on fire (#7). All's well that ends well.
Or next time, try this in a well?
Pati
This is great, Karen ! I'm gonna make these......TOMORROW,maybe ????? Yeah...I'll make em tomorrow !!! ;o)