To reduce the length of my candles!
Mr. E’s sister was kind enough to give us 4 dozen cylinder vases left over from her own wedding last year. I wracked my brain trying to think of how to put these to best use. So I decided to fill the bottom of each vase with some coffee beans and stick in a long candle. Why coffee beans? Because Mr. E and I LOVE coffee. I managed to get him addicted to his daily cup of joe (although we are both good about limiting our intake to just one cup a day). We also love the SMELL of coffee, so we are hoping that by bringing in the beans, we can bring the aroma of coffee into our reception space. However, I have noticed that the smell isn’t too noticeable, so I may have to add a small layer of ground coffee at the bottom since it smells stronger. I could be wrong, considering that we will have 40 of these vases around the ballroom, and I only have one as a mock-up!
But anywhoo, I could not find the ideal size/shape candles anywhere. I wanted something thicker than a regular taper candle since those don’t last long and they drip too much. Luckily I found these 1.5-inch thick and 9-inch tall candles at Hobby Lobby (candles are 50% off every other week!) for $1 each. Score! Unfortunately the bottoms are designed to fit into a candle holder, so I had Mr. E chop off all the ends. Then I am in the process of burning these candles down to the right height. Let me tell you, these things will burn FOREVER!
Here is some evidence of my work!

The original too-tall candle

Mr. E chopping off the bottoms of each

Burn, baby burn… (doing only 5 at a time, I will have to do this to 40 total)

Finished length. Voila!
Have you consider really recently roasted coffee? The smell is insanely strong, and places like Intelligentsia and Metropolis all roast here in Chicago.