How to transform vintage tea cups into candles

Wednesday 8th May= National Tea Drinking Day. I kid you not. This does actually exist, I've googled it and it's totally kosher.

We love all things vintage - you literally have to surgically remove Danielle from any vintage china at the jumble sale. She's brought so many her house looks like a tea cup convention.

So it got us thinking, what else can you do with them (apart from the obvious). Tea cup candles are a great way of getting your old china out of the cupboard and out into your home to be admired, or of course they make fantastic presents for friends and family. 

You can use different oils and colourings to make no-end of different teacup candles!

We stumbled across this great idea from Martha Stewart - it's a great way to up-cycle your tea cups and old candles.

"Here's what you need -

Pans
Partially burned candles
Candy or candle thermometer
Tongs
New wicking
Teacups
Wick sustainers
Wooden skewers

How you do it -

 1. In a small pan set over a larger pan of simmering water, melt down old candles; clip the thermometer to the upper pot, and keep temperature at about 185 degrees. Remove old wicks with tongs.

2. Cut a piece of wicking to the cup's height plus 2 inches. Clamp one end to a wick sustainer; tie the other end around a skewer. Dip wicking and sustainer into melted wax to coat them. Remove and stick sustainer to cup's bottom.

3. Pour in the wax, stopping 1/2 inch below the cup's rim. Allow wax to set, about 1 hour. The candle will harden with a well in the center. To even it out, use another skewer to prick a circle of holes about 1/16 inch deep around the wick. Pour in melted wax until surface is 1/4 inch below rim. Cut wick."