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Saturday, July 13, 2013

Citronella Jars

I love tiki torches, but we've spent a lot of money on them. Year after year we end up buying new ones because we break the ones we had, or we lose the tops, or we lose the whole dang tiki. I finally decided I wasn't going to buy anymore. They just weren't worth it.

A while back I saw something on Pinterest where someone had basically made a tiki torch with mason jars. Unfortunately I didn't pin it and when I decided I wanted to make them, I couldn't find the directions again. Armed with only the mental image of how it was made we headed to the store to pick up mason jars, citronella and wicks.

Once back home I took my Mason Jars and drilled holes in the top using a bit big enough to fit the wick through but that was snug enough that the wick wouldn't flop all over the place.

I fed the wick through the hole and trimmed it so about an inch was above the top of the jar.

I filled the mason jar with citronella oil, put the top ring on and was finished! It could not have been any easier.



That night we had friends over and I couldn't wait to try the new candles! I lit one up and set it on a table on the deck. It looked Awesome! I was so proud!

Then I almost started my house on fire.

At the time it was scary, but now it's kind of amusing. My friend and I were watching the candle and noticed that some of the oil was coming up out of the hole and spilling over onto the lid. Then it started spilling over the edge onto the table. Then the lid started on fire. We both kind of panicked. I wasn't sure if throwing water on it would make the fire worse or not. After what felt like an eternity of indecision, I finally threw a bucket of water on it. The fire went out, the house was saved and luckily I was in front of on of my BFF's so I didn't look too much like an idiot.

What I learned from that mistake is, you shouldn't put the citronella oil all the way up to the top. Oops. About an inch below the top is perfect. Please learn from my mistake and don't start your house on fire.



So now that I'm not starting any fires with my candles, I'm extremely happy with them. They look cool and they are functional. Win!

1 comment:

  1. Those are really cute and look pretty when lit. I wish I was there to see the mishap, I'm sure once the fire out it was pretty funny.

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