So several pictures keep floating around about how to cut a bottle with string and fire. Most posts are about people using them as glasses. Ours never broke clean enough to use them as drinking glasses (the edges were a bit jagged) but they were perfect for candle making! Dave and I love candles. I don't know what it is but if I'm going to be in a room for an extended period of time, it's safe to bet that there will be a candle burning ha! I also don't like burning more than one candle at a time (unless they are unscented or the same scent, I know I'm weird). We had several wine and beer bottles that we had been collecting so we got started.
You will need:
- Cotton yarn (make sure it is 100% cotton! Most yarns available are made from acrylic and they will just melt. We used the brand Peaches & Cream)
- Acetone nail polish remover
- Lighter
- Wine/beer bottle
- Running water
- Candle wax (we used soy)
- Candle scents (optional)
- Pre-made/waxed candle wicks
- Candy Thermometer
- Double boiler (or two pans that nest in each other)
First you will fill the cap of the acetone nail polish remover with its contents. Then you'll want to cut a piece of yarn so that it wraps around the bottle 4-5 times. Soak the yarn in the acetone, it will soak up almost immediately. Then wrap the yarn around the bottle where you'd like it to break (The bottle will break slightly above and below where you wrap the yarn around, so you'll end up with 3 pieces of glass. Plan for that space).
Next light the yarn on fire. Slowly spin the bottle so that the bulk of the fire circles the bottle a couple times. When the yarn starts singeing put it under cold running water. While doing this make sure to twist the bottle a bit to make sure you have a clean and precise break.
There you have it! A broken glass just waiting to be filled with wax! Make sure you sand the rough edges to prevent cuts!
Next heat up the wax in a double boiler (It's much safer to do it this way). We used soy wax so it melted super fast. You'll want to keep your wax at about 185 degrees. After reaching desired temperature, take the pot with the wax off the heat and let it cool to 125 degrees. If you aren't using scents you can skip this next step and head straight to pouring. Soy has a very pretty natural scent so it's not necessary. If you are using scents add them now. We made several different scented candles.
Dip the end of the wick holder into the wax and set it on the bottom of you glass. This will help keep your wick from moving when you pour the hot wax (make sure your wax is around 125 degrees, any hotter and it could cause the wax coating on the wick to melt and your wick will bend/move). We used a funnel to help pour the wax but if you have a steady hand you could just pour straight into the candle, make sure you save a little wax (just enough for a quarter inch more on top of the candle) in the pot and keep warm. As the candle starts to harden you'll notice that it might create little craters, just poke those with a skewer or other thin utensil and fill with the rest of the wax. This should level off your candle!
Allow for 24 hours to completely harden! Now that your candle is cool and solid you can enjoy the fruits of your labor, just make sure to trim the extra wick off!
Until next time, happy crafting!
