Save Your Tea Light Tins To Create The Most Stylish Candle Holder

In any given year, some households go through hundreds of tiny tea lights. These brilliant little lights are used for so many things, from holiday décor and scent burners to sparkling centerpiece illumination in DIY wine glass lanterns. When the candle wax has burned to the bottom, you're often left with the aluminum containers that most likely wind up in the trash. Instagram's @priyanshibeniwal__, however, shows off an excellent way to save these metal pieces from going to the landfill and use them for cool customized projects with a stunning metal look. With them, you can create metal leaves and flowers that you can use for all sorts of things in your décor, including elaborate floral candle holders and sculptural decorative accents.

The flimsy and malleable metal is perfect for shaping, requiring only a hammer to pound it flat or a few rolls with a rolling pin. It's bendable, easily molded to shape around things, and can be painted with acrylic or spray paint to add color to your creation. Even better, this is an eco-friendly project using what others would throw away as trash, so is a thrifty (almost entirely free) way to decorate your home on a budget.

To turn your tea light containers into botanical accents, remove any remaining wax from the bottom and pull out the candle wick from the center with a pair of scissors or pliers. Fold the cylindrical piece of metal in half and then pound it flat with a hammer or roll with a rolling pin until it is a thin layer of metal. The shape will already be somewhat leaf-like, though you can also use scissors to cut this very thin aluminum to get different shapes and pieces with variations in size. Use pressure from a pen or a knitting needle to create grooves in the metal to create veins and texture present in leaves and flowers. 

To make your newly created leaves and flowers into a candle holder, place them in a circle then layer them upwards applying hot glue between them. You can also use a small round piece of cardboard on the bottom as a guide. Softly curve your layers upward and inward. To finish, glue a new tea light on top in the center for a result that will look like a lotus bloom holding a candle.

By cutting the metal into different shapes with scissors, you can mimic the look of other flowers like chrysanthemums (thin strips) or rose petals (softer curled edges.)  Layer them together or create flatter decorative pieces that can serve as appliques on other decorative objects like vases, frames, boxes, or the bases of lamps with some glue. Paint your creations or add decorative accents like crystals or beads for even more sparkle.

In addition to candle holders that look stunning in a beautiful dining table centerpiece, these floral accents are also perfect to attach to a metal stem to use as an arrangement in a vase. Or use them during the holiday season to create unique Christmas tree décor in the shape of poinsettias. For inexpensive DIY metal accents, use flatter pieces to decorate holiday packages or as details in scrapbooks and handmade cards. If you attach thumbtacks or magnets to the back, they also make adorable metal fasteners for your corkboard or fridge.