Wine Bottle Candles

I've been seeing these wine bottle candles at gift shops and restaurants lately, so I thought I'd make some to have and give as gifts!

Start with an empty wine bottle (not hard to find!)  I tried to use bottles with unique labels that were placed lower on the bottle, so I could make shorter candles and use less wax.

Wrap painter's tape around the bottle at the desired height of the candle, about three layers thick.

Using a glass cutter, score the entire circumference of the bottle using the tape as a guideline.

Here's what a scored bottle looks like without the tape:

To actually brake the glass, we started off pouring very hot water on the scored line.............

then cold........

hot again.......

cold again...........

 

hot ...............

cold..............

 
CRACK!!  

Eventually the top of the bottle just breaks off!

The edge that's left from the break is a little rough and needs to be sanded.

Here's the sandpaper we used.  We started with the real gritty stuff to smooth smooth out the sharp edges, then finished with the finer grit.

 
We moved to the garage for this part--it got messy.

To make the candle I bought soy wax, lavender candle scent, and wicks from Michael's.

The wax came shredded into small pieces and was microwaveable so it was really easy to use. 

Almost melted...

Melted.  Once the wax had melted, I stirred in about 1/4 tsp. of the lavender scent before pouring into the bottles.

Appetizer picks held the wicks in place while the was set up.  The excess wick was cut off once the was hardened.

Here's the finished product!  I wrapped brown paper ribbon around some so that they'd be ready to give for gifts as I needed them. I'll definitely be saving wine bottles in the garage to make these again!