If you’re planning a nautical-themed or beach wedding, shells will be your best friend. They’re completely free if you can gather them yourself, and they instantly fit with your theme. If you’re looking for a more interesting way to use seashells at your big event, consider making these shell candles.
They are basically like little tea lights, so they’re perfect for a small accent or as part of a larger centerpiece.
To start, you’ll need a bunch of large seashells. Almost any size will work, but larger shells will hold more wax and therefore burn for longer. It’s fun to collect a variety if you can.
If you don’t happen to live by the shore, you can always purchase shells in order to do this project. Make sure you clean the shells before starting this DIY.
Next, you’ll need some wicks and candle wax. I have never done any work in wax before, so I didn’t have the materials on standby. Because of this, I repurposed plain tea light candles. I carefully pulled the unused wicks right out of the middle and used the remaining wax to melt down. I added a bit more wax by throwing in a few more candle pieces, because I wasn’t sure how much wax I would need.
Before I started melting the wax, I propped up my shells on a kitchen towel so they were mostly flat to hold the most wax and then I placed a wick inside each one.
Next, I got started melting my wax. I saved an aluminum takeout container and used it as the top of a double boiler. This means that I placed it on top of a small saucepan with water in it, and turned it on to a low boil.
As the double boil was heating up, I made sure to watch it carefully and stir constantly. Since I didn’t want to wreck a utensil, I just used a wooden skewer to stir. Once the wax started to liquefy, I turned down the burner heat and stirred until it was all liquid.
Now that my wax was liquid, it was time to pour it into my seashells. I carefully pinched a pour point on my container and brought it over to my shells. I quickly poured the wax into the largest center spot of the shells. Be mindful that you pour directly into the center, and not drip down the sides. Anywhere you pour, your wax will stay.
My wax cooled pretty quickly, and I didn’t have quite enough to fill all of my shells. I would recommend you add some extra wax so there’s enough to finish every seashell.
After the wax was completely cooled, they are ready to go!
I absolutely love how these came out. It was a lot easier than I expected. I tested the candles, and they work great! I think these would look especially nice in a glass bowl with some sand.
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