Homemade Teacup Candles

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Looking for the perfect homemade gift to make for your friends? These simple little homemade teacup candles are beautiful and elegant, yet so easy to make!

These little Teacup candles are ridiculously cute and make the perfect gift! So easy and inexpensive to make too! #teacupcandles #homemadecandles #diycandlegift #diycandles #homemadegifts

Homemade Teacup Candles

A long time ago I saw the idea for teacup candles on a book cover in a bookstore on vacation and I thought it was so cute! You can make these candles very inexpensively if you shop smart and they make a wonderful gift. Plus the teacups can be reused and you can make more candles when you’ve burned through one!

How to Make Homemade Teacup Candles

Supplies needed for homemade Teacup Candles:

  • Empty and clean Tin Can or Candle Pitcher
  • Wax
  • Wick
  • Teacups
  • Tape
  • Scissors

These candles can be made for a very inexpensive price if you find your supplies on sale, use coupons for the craft stores, and get the teacups from a thrift store. You could also make these with Beeswax like these Beeswax Candles or with Soy like these Soy Candles.

I found a big chunk of wax for half price at Hobby Lobby with their weekly coupon, if you watch for sales you can get all their candles supplies for half price. I’ve also used leftover pieces of wax from old candles. Just be sure to watch which scents you are mixing together if you are using leftover wax from old scented candles.

How to make DIY teacup candles:

  1. Put the chunks of wax in the tin can or in the candle pitcher. Put the tin can in the middle of a saucepan of boiling water. This way it melts correctly and doesn’t make a big huge mess in your cookware. Be aware that if you have too much water in your saucepan, your wax container might float up. Try to keep less than an inch of water in the pan to prevent this.
  2. Cut a piece of wick to be slightly longer than the teacup. Tape one end to the bottom of the cup and wrap the other end around a pencil or pen. If you want to skip the taping and the pencil, you can always get pre-waxed Candle Wicks with Tabs and just set them down in the bottom of your teacup. If you use these, it may help to secure the tab to the teacup with a dab of hot glue.
  3. When the wax has melted, pour it into the teacup. Try and keep the wick as straight as possible and keep the end out of the wax.
  4. Let the wax cool for at least 2-3 hours and then cut the wicks. While they are cooling you can add a little spice (nutmeg or cinnamon on top) to make it look like a little-spiced drink.

Teacup Candles

Cost for Homemade Teacup Candles project:

  • Teacups: $0.10 – $1 each (get them from the thrift store!)
  • Wax: About $0.25 – $0.50
  • Wick – About $0.10

Final cost: Around $0.45  to $1.60 for 2 candles depending on how much you can get the supplies for.

These are such a fun, simple project and they always make a great gift because they are so cute! Give them as a gift on their own, wrapped up in some pretty cellophane or add them to a Time to Yourself Gift Basket or an Afternoon Tea Gift Basket to give as a larger gift.

Love these adorable cup candles? Here are some more unique candle ideas that you might enjoy:

How to Scent Candles with Spices for Fall – Learn how to use spices to naturally scent your candles with all of the scents of the season.

Frosty Beeswax Candles – Give your candles a beautiful, frosted makeover with this frosty candle tutorial and then use them to create a beautiful Winter Wonderland centerpiece on a budget.

Punched Tin Candle Holders – Learn how to make these cute tin candle holders with a few basic supplies.

Creative Crafts for Old Crayons – Add some color to your candles with old crayons.

Surprising (And Frugal) Uses for Coffee – Use coffee beans and a candle to make a beautiful centerpiece.

Olive Oil Candles Tutorial – Use this kitchen staple to make candles.

Do you have someone that you can make and gift these homemade Teacup Candles to this year?

This post on Teacup Candles was originally published on Little House Living in November 2010. It has been updated as of October 2019.

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26 Comments

  1. This is a good idea, but I was wondering if any type of ceramic cup is okay to use. I'm just wondering if some thinner types can't be used because it would be too hot from the burning wax and might crack. What do you think? Thanks!

    1. You have to be careful with wick sizeing when using the more fragile cups. use a smaller wick that doesn’t burn as big of a wax circle and you should be safe.

  2. I love this idea. I have already found an entire 6 piece matching tea cups and saucers ( my son has three teachers, and the paraeducators in his class). My question is…. Do you hot glue, gorilla glue or tacky glue the cup and saucer together or give it as two pieces? I know it is a silly question but I am a lot OCD and need the directions completely spelled out!
    Thanks for the wonderful craft!

        1. Once the candle has burned down, the cup can be cleaned and used again as a tea cup. You wouldn’t want the saucer attached if you drank tea from it. I won’t attached mine.

  3. Pingback: DIY Friday: Tea Cup Candles
  4. so excited to see this! Teacher gifts this year for sure. I did a cactus in a cup and saucer last year but didnt want to have to bandage myself up after that again. Thanks for the idea!

  5. Thanks so much for this tutorial. I have just made two candles and as I wait they are cooling. Such a great idea putting the wax in a tin can as I was going to spoil a pan. I will post some photos on my blog tomorrow and post a link to this tutorial, I hope that that is okay, please let me know if it is not.

  6. I did this with tea cups and the middles sank when the dried and the wicks are all crooked and there are pits in it. Why did this happen, and is there a way to fix it? How can I prevent this for next time?

  7. I saw this idea and decided it was a great holiday gift! Mine came out a little more expensive, about $1.45 per tea cup candle but they also had clear white/red wrapping with ribbons on them 🙂 they are lovely and came out so beautiful. My boyfriend and I made them together and it was a great way to share time together during the holidays. Thank you for the idea!

  8. Can paraffin wax be used that is used in canning or is there a special wax for candles? I’ve never made candles before and I like the teacup idea; I think this will make a fun, first-time candle project!

    1. I wouldn’t use paraffin wax for candles. Paraffin emits toxic chemicals into the air. You don’t want to be breathing in that junk.

  9. I bought the candle wax melting machine at Hobby Lobby with the 40% off coupon years ago. I do this all the time. I save all my left over wax if there is any. I have also made soy and gel candles. It is kind of fun, but I like the idea of the tin can, then I can just throw it away and not worry about cleaning any mess.

  10. Hi,
    Thanks for such a fun idea! This will make a great gift!

    I would like to pin it to one of my pinterest boards but every time I click on the pinterest pin, it does nothing. Please help! 🙂

  11. You could, in theory, do this with anything, like mason jars, or flower pots. I can see a lot of variations on this.