Do you have a tart burner? Do you know what a tart burner is? They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and designs, but they all work in basically the same way: you burn a small candle in the bottom of the tart burner and you place a chunk of wax above it, in a separate compartment, to melt it. The candle below heats up, melts the chunk of wax, and fills the room with the scent of the wax.
You can purchase the small tea lights, used for heating the wax, and you can purchase the tarts as well. But, it’s a lot more fun to make your own tarts! They’re great for your own personal use but they also work well for giving away as gifts.
Use foil cupcake wrappers to make one version of the candle wax tart. Simply melt household candles, ones without scent or tint, and add your own scents and colors. You’ll find scents and tints at a craft store but there are options for making your own, too. For example, you can color the melted wax by using a broken crayon. Remove the wrapper and drop the crayon in with the wax. Heat and melt the wax as well as the crayon. Scents can be made from perfume or other scented products. It doesn’t take much, though, to scent a piece of wax, so take it easy on smelly additives, like perfume or cologne.
After melting, tinting and scenting the wax pour it into the foil cupcake wrappers. The wrappers should be aligned on a metal baking sheet to keep them steady. It can be helpful to use a measuring cup or even a funnel to get the wax into the cupcake wrappers without spilling it. Don’t fill the wrappers all the way up; the tarts should be no more than about an inch or two thick. Slide the baking sheet, with tarts, into the fridge or freezer until set, or just allow them to set up on their own.
Another way to make tarts for a burner is to use leftover candles. After candles are burned down to the point where they won’t stay lit anymore you can reuse them to make tarts. Remove the wick and scrape off any discoloration from previous burning. If you don’t do this you can end up with black specks in the new tart. Make sure that all the leftover pieces you use together have scents that are the same or similar. You can combine certain scents, though, like an apple-scented candle piece with a leftover cinnamon candle.
The new tarts are perfect for keeping the house smelling fabulous without burning so many candles. The tart melts, and after you blow out the candle, it hardens again. You can melt them again and again, but will eventually have to add a new tart. They smell great, are easy to make, and will save you money over purchasing tarts!
Reference:
- Purchase paraffin here: www.michaels.com
