So here it is, the end of your wedding journey– and you’re left with a lot of leftovers. Leftover programs, leftover favors, and leftover candles. If you’re a diva hostess, you can reuse your wedding candles to enhance more of your home parties or donate them to another galpal who is getting married.

What you will need:

* Cookie sheet

* Your remaining votive candles (in their holders)

* An oven (and oven mitts)

* Cardboard box and/or newspaper

* Paper towels

Believe it or not, your wedding planner makes candles in her spare time– tarts,votives, pillars, tins, containers, etc. So before we get started, let me tell you something very important.

Meltpoint: Every type of wax has a meltpoint. And it is exactly what it sounds like: the heating point at which the wax melts. Please note that different types of waxes have different meltpoints. Votive and pillar waxes have higher meltpoints, because they are meant to be free standing candles. Container waxes (think Yankee jar candles) have lower meltpoints because they are inside of a container that will hold their waxes. Your votives will more likely than not have a meltpoint of 143° degrees F.

Flashpoint: Just as each wax has a meltpoint, each wax also has a flashpoint. When waxes get too hot, they become combustable. The point right before they explode and ruin your life is the flashpoint. Waxes typically have a flashpoint of about 400° F.

Now that you understand these points, the process will make a little more sense.

• Preheat your oven to 200°F. This is typically the lowest that most ovens will go.
• Get your leftover candles that you used on your cake table, with your centerpieces or elsewhere in your decor.
• Put them on a cookie sheet.
• Put the sheet with the votive holders in the oven.
• Allow wax to melt (this may only take 5 minutes. While doing this, you can prepare your cardboard box lined with newspaper. It helps to crumple the paper up).
• Remove your votives from the oven.

At this point, you must move quickly or your wax will begin to film, and then to harden. You will want to put on your mitts and pour the wax into the box with the newspaper. Remove any of the wicks and the wick tabs. Never, ever, ever pour the wax down the sink. You will RUIN your drain. Once your have poured the wax out, wipe the remaining wax out of the votive holders with the paper towels. Of course, you don’t want to mix any water and wax, so wipe out any wax until the container is dry.

You can repeat this until you are done with all of your left over votive holders.

You now have a set of votive holders that are ready to be used again.