Shell Candles

Our shell collection always seems to balloon in the summer, and while we live a few hours from the coast, the bulk of our shells are found closer to home. The shells we used for this project are hand sized river mussels that we find in the streams and lakes around our house. I love them and can’t seem to stop collecting them! (So don’t feel like you have to live near a beach to find shells!) You just need a tiny bit of beeswax to make these candles, and we sprinkled some of those tiny shells we always seem to accumulate on top along with a few pressed summer flowers. My favorite part is actually the sand sprinkled on top, it looks properly summery and was a last minute addition when I noticed it at the bottom of our shell bucket. These are perfect for a summer nature table and will nicely display some of those teeny tiny shells that are easily lost of the table othewise!

Summer Shell Candles

We like to have a candle or two on our nature table, here is an easy summery one that you can make with shells. They would also be lovely for a summer party, on an outdoor table or anywhere you want to feel a little more summery! You can use proper candlemaking wicks, but I find them to be fiddly for such a short candle, so I use cheap birthday candles instead. You can clip them to size with scissors and get two or three tiny wicks from each candle. They are much sturdier and easier to work.

Materials:

• large-ish shells
• tiny shell for decoration (optional)
• tiny pressed flower for decoration (optional)
• sand for decoration
• aluminum foil
• wicks or birthday candles
• beeswax pellets
• mason jar and non food wax melting pot

Method:

Crumple up some aluminum foil and set your clean dry shells on top. wiggle them around and use the foil to get them as level as you can.

Melt some beeswax in a mason jar set into simmering water.

Pour the melted wax into the shell and quickly stick your wick or clipped birthday candle into place. If you are decorating, place the flowers first as they are quite light and won’t sink. Let the wax begin to set up for a minute or two and then add the shells and sand. If they sink, wait a minute and then try again.

Allow the candle to completely harden (this should take a few hours.) Trim your wick as needed and enjoy!