Gardens > How to...

... make a groovy, garden candle-holder

This is a groovy little way of using all those candles that are left over, that are odd colours or sizes or just not good looking enough to burn at your dinner table! It’s also a great way of burning candles outdoors without having to sacrifice one of your more expensive candlestick-holders!

Get yourself a small-ish container. The small galvanized bucket plant pots are ideal for this and they take some outdoor-battering without breaking – you can even paint them with enamel paint if you feel that way inclined.

Fill it about two-thirds full of either fine sand or table-salt. Sand works well but the table-salt looks good being white!

Space 3 candles around your bucket, wedged into the sand/salt and light them! Simple, easy, portable and good-looking to boot! Not to mention practical – the wax drips into the bucket and solidifies on top of the sand/salt – all you have to do is lift it off and dispose of it, so no more chipping old wax off your candle-holder, just top up the sand/salt as needed. It’s also practical because any size of candle will fit it, you don’t have to find the right-sized candle for your holder – just push them in and the job’s a good ‘un!

They work well on tables or spaced around your garden or balcony on the floor – they’re sturdy too and there’s virtually no chance of them being blown over. All that’s left for you to do is crack open the bottle and enjoy!