Tealight Candle

I created my own unique Tealight Candle Holder that I want to share with you.

This DIY project is combining different recycled materials like soda cans and cut glass as well as concrete.

The shiny soda can is holding the glass with the candle in place whereas the concrete block is used as a solid ground. Neither the aluminum nor the concrete has a tendency to ignite so this materials are well suited for an outdoor tealight candle holder.

For this project you need the following parts:

• Soda can (66mm diameter, 500ml)
• Two glasses (56mm diameter)
• Two tealight candles
• Concrete
• Sand
• Adhesive tape

Tools:

• Glass bottle cutter (Link to glass cutter on aliexpress)
• Circle cutter (Circle cutter link to aliexpress)
• Utility Knife
• Edding marker
• Cardboard

This project is based on the following Instructables:

• How to remove the ink from soda cans
• Make square shaped soda cans

The outside surface of the soda can is much more attractive if you remove the color first. So before you start, remove the ink from the soda can. I already posted an Instructable that demonstrates an easy method for ink removal from soda cans. You can find the Instructable here: Ink removal from soda cans

Then clean the emptied soda can by rinsing twice with water and let it dry. Use a knife to mark a groove around the can. Hold the knife on a piece of wood at a level plane and then rotate the can around. It is not necessary to cut through the aluminum. Apply some pressure with an old credit card near the groove to separate the top and the bottom part.

Then the round soda can is transformed into a rectangular shaped soda can. You will find an Instructable how to do this under the following link: Make square shaped soda cans. I used angle brackets with a width of 4 centimetres when putting the soda can in the oven. The soda can thereafter has side length of 4 x 6.5 centimetres.

Then put a piece of wood through the soda can an underlay it with some other wood pieces to create a sort of working table. By the way this is one advantage making square shaped or rectangular shaped soda cans. You can work with a knife on a flat surface.

Then create a circle from cardboard in the dimension of your glass. Indicate the location on the soda can with a marker. Find the center point of the circles that you want to cut out of the aluminum with the cardboard circle. Now make use of a circle cutter to remove the aluminum circle (see video).

In order to have a solid base we pour a concrete block in the same dimensions as the rectangular shaped soda can. We use directly the rectangular shaped soda can as a mold.

The concrete mixture that we are going to pour into the soda can mold has a very low pH-value. Solutions with a low pH-value attack the aluminum and leave burns on the aluminum which do not look nice. Therefore we mask the outside of the soda can with adhesive tape. Close the bottom and thereafter the top of the former soda can with adhesive tape to complete the mold.

I mix my concrete usually in the following way:

• 1 part concrete
• 3 parts sand
• 1 part water

First I mix only the sand and the concrete and thereafter I add the water. Pour the concrete about 2 cm high into the mold. Let the concrete dry completely.

So that our candle is not blown out with the first gust of wind we need a transparent protection. Glass is the material of choice. The glass of a pasta sauce was the best I could find.

To extract the piece of glass I used a glass bottle cutter that I bought online (see parts list). However it is not so difficult to make a cutter one your own. There are already a ton of Instructables and YouTube videos how to cut glass so I will not go into detail. Only this much: Protect yourself with gloves and scratch the glass only once. Then alternately pour boiling hot and cold water over the cuts until the glass breaks. The glass cylinder I extracted is about 55 mm in height.

Put the concrete block back into the rectangular soda can. Place the glass into the openings and light the candles.