What do you save...

[Rosendula]

I was just picking the wick holders out of the bottom of my used tea lights so I can re-use them for holding my wick in place when I start to make candles

I thought of doing that - but how the heck do you get the wicks in there in the first place?

You mean the wick in the wick holder? There are different types, but the easiest ones kind of have two little sticky-up bits that you separate, thread the wick through and then pinch back together. If you don't have strong finger nails you can do it with tweezers.

[StripyPixieSocks]

I was just picking the wick holders out of the bottom of my used tea lights so I can re-use them for holding my wick in place when I start to make candles

I thought of doing that - but how the heck do you get the wicks in there in the first place?

Open up the wee hole doofry and thread it through... voila (I should add I have never done this yet as I have been talking about making candles for about 20 years and never ever made one yet

I also have started saving bottles and jars for glass cutting and making into vases, drinking vessels etc... when my OH gets around to making me the glass cutter jig thingy (highly technical specifications that )

I save random bits of coloured cards and papers to use in my card making... I re-use all the tissue paper for wrapping stuff for transporting to customers etc etc etc

I carefully study anything we throw away to see if I could use it in any way further before I throw it away to the point DH sometimes snatches it from me and re-cycles it because I'm a menace for saving 'stuff' I never use... apparently

I will also be saving tomato puree tubes now because I saw a tutorial which cut both ends off, cut up one side, opened it flat, washed it, rolled it flat and used the lovely inside bits as that thick foil you buy for horrific prices in hobbycraft (you turn over, run a ballpoint pen on it, turn it back and voila pretty metal embellishments when cut to size)...

I save plastic bags, wash them and use them for covering my rising bread as thy keep in the right warm moisture content to allow my bread to rise well.

The oddest one has to be the cut-offs of MDF that a factory throws away and let us take however much we wanted for free... we have 3 HUGE boxes in the loft of 3/4" MDF discs ranging from around 3" to almost 12" and we can go back and get as much as we want!!

[Thomzo]

Ok - I can come clean now.

As well as margarine tubs and loo roll insides I also keep:

Old CD's
Bits of coloured card or anything else from junk mail or packaging that might, possibly, one day, at some point, make a greetings card
Any bits of ribbon, string or wool that I see.
Any wire that comes my way. If someone I know is renovating I scour the place for the odd inch of electrical cable.
Anything that might, possibly, be converted into something for the dolls house.
Polystyrene packaging for use as drainage in plant pots
Plant pots
The plastic trays that meat comes in. Cleaned and used for planting up salad leaves on the kitchen windowsill
Plastic bottles. Either for freezing milk or fruit juice, or for cutting open to make miniature cloches for seedlings.
All the spare buttons from clothes. If I give away the item of clothing I always keep the spare buttons.
Candle stubbs
Soap ends
All scrap wood (for the fire of course)
Pallets from work (for making compost heaps)
Newspapers
Emulsion paint pots. Painted up they make plant pots or waste paper baskets.

I suppose I have the hording gene!

Zoe

[ina]

You mean the wick in the wick holder? There are different types, but the easiest ones kind of have two little sticky-up bits that you separate, thread the wick through and then pinch back together. If you don't have strong finger nails you can do it with tweezers.

Ah - cheers! I'll have to try that. Have loads of old candles and candle ends, and would like to re-use them... My finger nails are rubbish, though, so I'll need to find a strong pair of tweezers.

[Big Al]

I was just picking the wick holders out of the bottom of my used tea lights so I can re-use them for holding my wick in place when I start to make candles

I thought of doing that - but how the heck do you get the wicks in there in the first place?

A few ways. If you have a vice in the workshop put the tab upside down in the jaws and use a small screwdriver to poke the hole apart again. Alternativly you can hold the tab in a pair of pliers and put it on the edge of a bench and use a small screwdriver to work the hole open again from the top. There are different types of wick to be used for different candles so if the wick tabs come from a tealight or a vitive size candle then you are loooking for a thin LX 8 wick ( tealight) or LX12 wick ( votive). The best wick to buy is prewaxd so the end will slip into the tab and then you crimp it back together with a pair of pliers. When you do this becareful not to crimp to hard as it bends the wick tab and this makes the base of the candle unstable.

HTH

Alan

[Big Al]

You mean the wick in the wick holder? There are different types, but the easiest ones kind of have two little sticky-up bits that you separate, thread the wick through and then pinch back together. If you don't have strong finger nails you can do it with tweezers.

Ah - cheers! I'll have to try that. Have loads of old candles and candle ends, and would like to re-use them... My finger nails are rubbish, though, so I'll need to find a strong pair of tweezers.

you won't do it with tweezers.... try pliers.

[Big Al]

I was just picking the wick holders out of the bottom of my used tea lights so I can re-use them for holding my wick in place when I start to make candles

I thought of doing that - but how the heck do you get the wicks in there in the first place?

Open up the wee hole doofry and thread it through... voila (I should add I have never done this yet as I have been talking about making candles for about 20 years and never ever made one yet

I save random bits of coloured cards and papers to use in my card making... I re-use all the tissue paper for wrapping stuff for transporting to customers etc etc etc

I carefully study anything we throw away to see if I could use it in any way further before I throw it away to the point DH sometimes snatches it from me and re-cycles it because I'm a menace for saving 'stuff' I never use... apparently

The oddest one has to be the cut-offs of MDF that a factory throws away and let us take however much we wanted for free... we have 3 HUGE boxes in the loft of 3/4" MDF discs ranging from around 3" to almost 12" and we can go back and get as much as we want!!

The phrase is " that'll come in handy someday" ( it might be 20 years hence but it stops the other half getting rid of your prize collection.... believe me it works...

be careful of the weight of the discs on the loft beams..... just look for the cracks in the bedroom ceilings,lol.

I used to run Candleicious candles up until the banks pulled the plug in 2007 so if anyone wants a starter kit making up or advice from a proffesional candle maker then I'm happy to help. It will also be a good way to make a donation to something Andy and Dave are doing.