Sun-Soaked Garden Beeswax Candles: Spice Jar Candle Hack

Turn empty spice jars into a clean-burning garden beeswax candles. Learn how to reuse jars safely to create a gorgeous garden handmade gift. 

Like fresh fruits, local farmers markets, and just-scooped ice cream cones on a warm afternoon—summer days call for fresh scents! As the weather warms up here in Texas, I find myself completely craving those bright, sun-drenched citrus notes. 

What better way to infinite the season than creating a garden scented beeswax candle recipe? This trio of candles is as bright and lively as the late afternoon sunshine that stretches across the garden.

A celebration of the growing season with citrus notes that lift the room instantly, while rosemary adds a clean, herbal depth to the candle scent. And a good amount of citronella in the blend makes these candles especially thoughtful for evenings on the porch or patio. 

Wrapped with fresh rosemary, as a nod to the garden season, this spice jar candle hack captures a sense of charm and curiosity, reflecting the beauty of summer days. 

What I love most, is that they’re simple, practical, and seasonally appropriate. You might just say, they’re everything a summer candle should be!

I’ll show you how to turn empty spice jars into clean-burning garden beeswax candles for a gorgeous handmade garden gift. 

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Upcycled Spice Jar Candle Hack: Is it Safe?

Sometimes the best ideas grow from what we already have on hand. Who would have thought empty spice jars could make such cute candles? But, you might be wondering if this candle hack is safe? Can you reuse empty glass jars safely for homemade candles?

Short Answer: Yes, glass spice jars are safe candle containers. Because spice jars are designed with thick, sturdy walls to resist cracking, they easily tolerate the heat of a single-wick candle flame. Upcycling empty spice jars is a practical, sustainable way to create cute, small-batch garden candles.

Long Answer: You’re right to think twice. One of the biggest concerns when upcycling containers for candles is leaking. Well, we certainly don’t have to worry about that with spice jars. But, when it comes to any glass container, we should consider the risk of cracking. 

The good news is that glass spice jars are designed with sturdy walls, built to resist cracking and even handle a few drops on the kitchen floor. 

Not only that, we’re only adding a single wick and a small amount of wax to each jar. So, the jar itself isn’t going to heat up a lot. Combined with their resistance to cracks and leaks, spice jars are on the list of approved containers.

Creative Candle Idea for A Homemade Garden Gift

I couldn’t resist decorating each candle with rosemary. Every time I brush my hands against those needle-like leaves, the fragrance rises with a fresh scent. You’ll need a small bundle of fresh rosemary gathered from your herb garden or local Farmer’s Market. 

P.S. Did you know simple spice jars also make great match jars? Read all about how I create match jars with a striker or watch the video tutorial on YouTube. 

While fresh rosemary adds a lovely, tactile charm to your finished jars, it is just the beginning of the aromas these garden candles have to offer. Ready to layer on those sun-drenched, botanical scents? Let’s mix the essential oils.

Fresh For Summer: Sun-Soaked Beeswax Candle Recipe

For this candle recipe I created a fresh summer blend of orange, citronella, lime, and rosemary essential oils. The scent recipe adds to the sun-soaked appeal of the golden, yellow beeswax that fills each jar. 

Crafted with percentages, this blend recipe is designed to scale to fit any candle size. Whether you’re working with a 4 ounce tin or a large cozy 16 ounce jar, just apply the percentages to your total fragrance load and blend away!

Summer Scented Essential Oil Candle Blend 

• 25% orange essential oil
• 30% citronella essential oil
• 20% lime essential oil
• 25% rosemary essential oil

To fill 3 spice jars you’ll need a total of 3 ml essential oils for the blend. Which means for these spice jars, you each percentage equates to:

• 15 drops orange essential oil
• 18 drops citronella essential oil
• 12 drops lime essential oil
• 15 drops rosemary essential oil

For more citrus candle scent recipes grab these printable scented candle mixing charts inside the Simple Living Library. Each is packed with fresh, fruit-forward blends that energize and uplift! 

Step-by-Step: Upcycled Candle Making Tutorial 

Make a batch of natural, clean-burning beeswax candles with me for endless golden hours of candlelight this season. I’ll walk you through step by step from cleaning and prep the spice jars for reuse to scenting and pouring the wax.

If this is your first time making candles, you may want to check out our candle resource center or start with a beginner’s candle-making guide.

How To Make Beeswax Candles

Grab your jars and let’s get moving—your first batch of garden-scented candles is just a melt and pour away!

Step 1 Prep Spice Jars:

Before you begin, wash and dry your spice jars thoroughly. Remove the spice shaker insert from each jar (you can keep the lids for later use). Next, place a glue dot on the bottom of each cotton wick. Place a wick inside the center of each spice jar, using a popsicle stick or the end of a pencil to press the wick tab firmly into the glue dot.

Step 2 Weigh & Melt Wax:

Place a small candle melting pot on top of a kitchen scale. Clear the weight and measure 10 ounces of beeswax pastilles into the pot. Then set the pot of wax inside a larger pot filled with about 2 inches of water. Using a double boiler method, melt the wax on medium to low heat. Use an infrared thermometer to ensure you don’t heat it above the melting point. 

Step 3 Scent The Wax:

Once melted, remove it from the heat source and allow the wax to cool to between 125°F and 135°F before adding the essential oil blend. Start with 60 drops of orange essential oil and 30 drops of citronella essential oil. Then add 18 drops of lime essential oil and 12 drops of rosemary essential oil to the melted beeswax. Use a heat-resistant silicone whisk to stir the oils in for 2 minutes. 

Step 4 Pour Candles:

Before pouring the wax, use a heat gun to warm up the glass for good adhesion. Carefully pour the infused beeswax into each spice jar with the aid of a funnel pitcher. Then place a centering stick over each wick to keep them straight during the curing process. You’ll notice in the photographs that I did not fill the jars completely full. That is so the cork lids could be placed on top.

Once the candles have completely cooled, follow the steps I shared above to decorate each jar with fresh rosemary. And don’t forget to trim the candle wicks with an easy wick trimmer!

Bringing the Garden Indoors

Don’t you love it when you take something you’ve used and turn it into something else useful? By repurposing our spice jars, we’ve kept glass out of the recycling bin and made a thoughtful, handmade gift that feels like summertime in the garden.

Whether you’re gifting these or lighting them on your patio as the sun goes down, I hope you enjoy the clean-burning scent.

Ready to keep the summer glow going? Invite summer’s carefree spirit into your home with more candle projects!