Around the beginning of January I put a call out on our social media asking for people's old empty candle jars which I assumed were like the ones in my own living room - sitting around collecting dust. I assumed correctly, and an abundance of nearly empty jars came my way! 

I began making candles in high school, and end up picking it back up every few years. I have made many terrible candles in my day, and have learned a lot from my mistakes. There are common pitfalls I wanted to avoid, so I made a mental list of things I needed to try to achieve:

• Having the right size wick so the melt pool reaches the edge of the container
• Creating a coherent and appealing smell out of many different scents
• Having clean wax with no old wicks, dust, pet hair, or yucky stuff left behind
• Making candles with a smooth surface on top, visible through the glass, and no sinkholes along the wick
• Making a candle with a flame big enough to melt the wax, but small enough to stay safe

I did a lot of research before getting started, but unfortunately, there's not a lot out there about making candles with recycled wax. Most of the instructions for candle making assume you're working with brand new wax of one type or a pre-manufactured blend of waxes. Because there were little bits of wax left in my jars, I was working with an unknown combination of at least soy, paraffin and coconut, not to mention any mysteries!

After some burn trials and errors over the course of several weeks, I think I've finally created a collection of candles that will burn thoroughly and safely, keep existing items circulating in orbit, and smell good too!

Candle Encore recycled candles are made with a blend of new and recycled waxes, and reuse old candle containers. Each of the scents is carefully selected using a thorough olfactory process, and named after songs we want to hear again and again. 

You can find them in our Shelf Life Satellite booth at Design Archives Vintage in Downtown Greensboro, NC. Additional scents and containers will continue to roll out over the next few weeks!