Anthropologie Candle DIY

I'm obsessed with the capri blue candles at anthropologie (you can also get them on amazon -- a couple dollars cheaper but without as nice of a lid).  Volcano is my favorite.  And you know the Seinfeld Soup Natzi... I'm kinda like that with my candles.  I'm super stingy about when they are lighted and for how long and who I light them for (yea, I know... I have problems.)  I just love the smell and since they are on the expenseive side, I try to savor them and make them last as long as possible.

But I also super love the jar they come in (I have my sights set on the mercury jar one next).  I couldn't just throw it away.  I remember my high school BFF, Natalie - A Dose of Delightful, blogging about using it as a vase.  I wanted some flora too -- but someting a little less fragile.

I opted for a $4 cactus from Home Depot.

Here is the easy peasy "how to" >>>>

1. Scoop out the left over wax with an old spoon.
2. Like my friend Natalie pointed out in her post -- boiling water and glass, not a great idea.  So to get out the residue, I actually found that hot tap water works perfectly.  Fill, swirl, wipe out with paper towel and repeat until you have it clean.
3. Fill the bottom with pebbles.  Since you can't put a whole in the bottom of the glass, at least not with out getting super high tech or having special tools, pebbles will help a bit with drainage if you over water.
4. Fill a bit with soil.  They make "cactus soil"... but I used plain ol' soil.
5. Put on a glove (unless you like needles) and take cactus from container.  Spread out the roots a bit [like in this post] and place in jar.
6. Add some soil around the sides with a funnel (my cactus was a bit too big for this opening so it took some finagling to fill in the sides).  And then sand on top.  This is mostly for aesthetic.  Be careful of the type of sand you use.  Sand with salt = bad, so don't scoop it up from the beach.
7. wham bam thank you mam.  finished.

And what about the "leftovers?"

Don't throw out that pretty brass lid and the extra wax!  Use the lid from your favorite anthropologie candle to catch your jewelry.  And the wax -- make another new mini candle.  Super easy(ish) tutorial for that here.  Or, don't want to go through the trouble of that?, leave it scooped in a glass jar and put it in a warm window or above the fridge.  Let the natural heat carry the yummy scent.

So what do you think??

Not into cacti or flowers??

Use it to store cotton balls or make up brushes in your bathroom.  The ideas are pretty endless in my opinion!