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Remodel & decorate in Mid Century Style

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Home / Decorating ideas / decorating misc.

Beeswax candles handmade from vintage glassware and bottles

Kate - Updated: August 5, 2013

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

beeswax candles handmade

deva-mirel-fresh pastry stand
Deva and her weebit

Update: I spun the random.org number generator — congrats to commenter Michelle, winner of these candes. These beeswax candles — handmade using molds created from vintage pressed glass bar ware, glasses and bottles — are just beautiful. The creative brainchild of Deva Mirel of Fresh Pastry Stand, these decorative candles elevate your standard pillar to a whole new level of happy. We love love love using vintage treasures in new ways! And the best part? You could win the set shown above — Deva has provided a set for a giveaway. Read on for more about these artisanal candles — and to learn how to enter the contest.

beeswax candles

When Deva contacted Pam and me about featuring her candles on Retro Renovation, we were blown away by their vintage charm. Moreover, Deva told us that we were the first blog she pitched to show her new creations — because she is a reader. That’s always nice to hear!

handmade beeswax candles

What a great way to use midcentury glasses, bar ware and bottles. We asked Deva for more information on how she got started making these lovely candles:

deva-mirel-fresh pastry standI started Fresh Pastry Stand in February 2012, making cake stands from vintage china. I love pairing the aesthetic of vintage dishes with a mix and match sensibility. But because the cake stands are either one of a kind or limited edition and I wanted to do this more than just for fun but as my career, I realized I needed to add a product that could be reproduced for wholesale, etc. 
 
One Etsy seller I am a huge fan of is Andies Specialty Sweets. I absolutely adore their work and am hugely inspired by their presentation of vintagey old school candies — especially their vintage button candies. So, their product line got me very obsessed with the idea of mold making. I just really wanted to do it. I looked around at different options — like resin jewelry — but the risk and toxicity of the materials did not appeal to me. Prior to Fresh Pastry Stand, I worked in natural foods catering so the quality and purity of materials is something I am sensitive to and feel strongly about.
 
I stumbled upon some videos of Martha Stewart making molded beeswax candles and became immediately interested in the material. Martha used colorants when making her candles but I found the natural beauty of beeswax so captivating, I decided to keep it absolutely pure. Martha was mostly casting objects from nature — gourds and branches — but I had an extensive collection of vintage wares on my shelves and knew that would be my niche. 
 
And one day while visiting the Goodwill I spotted all this 1950’s pressed glass barware. The texture caught my attention. I knew it would translate well into a tactile candle while keeping with the vintage aesthetic I so love. Some of the glasses I bought on that trip looked terrible when cast as candles. Most notably Anchor Hocking’s Lido pattern. Love it as a glass, leave it as a candle! The Tiki Tumbler pillar is cast from Indiana Glass Park Lane pattern. The short pillar is cast from a Libbey glass but I have not found any info on the gorgeous water goblet I used. Maybe your readers will have some info!

Deva debuted her beeswax candle line recently — after getting funding through backers on Kickstarter  — which paid for the candle making supplies and start up costs. Around the first week of August, Deva introduced the line in her Etsy shop and is currently working on making more molds, fulfilling Kickstarter rewards and working on packaging design.

mid century cast beeswax candleI’m just in awe of the detail that is able to be transferred from the glassware to the final candle. You can see every petal on those flowers — wow — how’s that for flower power?

mid century cast beeswax candlemid century cast tiki candleIt’s tough to choose, but I think this pillar candle is my favorite of the bunch — probably because I’m really digging the geometric design and tiki vibe. It would look great and create some funky mood lighting in my tiki room!

vintage bottle candlesPam says she is partial to the beeswax candles cast from molds made from vintage jars and bottles. These also would make for a memorable centerpiece for dinner parties, special events or family gatherings.

vintage bottle candleIt is never too early to think about shopping for the holidays — these candles might be just the right kind of gift for that hard to shop for vintage loving person on your list!

You can learn more about Deva’s candles by watching her YouTube Video or hopping on over to Fresh Pastry Stand’s Esty shop to check out all her designs.

Thank you, Deva, for making Retro Renovation the first blog you pitched with your story… for permission to feature all these beautiful photos… and for providing the giveaway!

win these

Wanna win the set above?
Enter by Thursday night

How to enter:

  • Leave a Comment about why you like these candles and want to win.
  • You must be in the U.S., so sorry, blame the hassle of trying to deal with customs.
  • Contest closes at 10:30 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, Sept. 6; Pam will choose a winner by random.org random number generator on Friday morning and email the winner. If she lands on Deva’s name, she will go on down. Winner must respond within one week. If they do not, she will choose another winner. Rinse. Repeat.
  • Pam will post the name of the winner at the top of this post as soon as they confirm.

Update: Contest entries closed. Selection of winner, described above, in progress!

CATEGORIES:
Decorating ideas decorating misc.

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Reader Interactions

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123 comments

Comments

  1. Margaret says

    September 4, 2012 at 2:42 pm

    Thank you Deva and Kate for this giveaway–the candles are amazing! Such a clever idea and I am betting they smell divine too. 🙂

  2. Amy F. says

    September 4, 2012 at 2:18 pm

    Beautiful! I absolutely adore these candles! They would look fantastic in my 70’s home. 🙂 I love that they are made of beeswax, and as a fellow Etsy seller, I’m always partial to buying from home-based businesses. Heading over to check out Deva’s Etsy shop right now!

  3. RetroSandie says

    September 4, 2012 at 1:56 pm

    What a wonderfully clever idea!!!! I think the finished product is gorgeous. I would love to win a set. Beeswax is such a lovely scent, and I can imagine the warm glow….Thanks Deva and Pam for this giveaway surprise!!!

  4. Jenny A. says

    September 4, 2012 at 1:29 pm

    I love these candles and want to win them because they’re beautiful!

  5. Morgen says

    September 4, 2012 at 1:27 pm

    I love the bottle candles! I love collecting bottles, but other than using them for vases every now and then they just sit in my cabinets. This is such a great way to have the look and have more function too! So cool! And I love the color of the bees wax.

  6. Mitzi says

    September 4, 2012 at 1:06 pm

    WOW those are adorable!! Such a great idea. And with so much different vintage glass out there, the possibilities are pretty endless! Seems like a must have for any vintage geek 🙂 ::fingers crossed:: I win! lol

  7. MohiniKrueger says

    September 4, 2012 at 12:57 pm

    Holy Gorgeous Candles!! I would love to win but don’t think I could ever bring myself to burn these pretties. I’ll definitely be heading over to her Etsy shop for some of my holiday shopping. I hate to give generic gifts! These candles are unique but could easily appeal to many people on my list. Love them!!

  8. Mary says

    September 4, 2012 at 12:49 pm

    How beautiful!! I especially love the TIKI one. These would be lovely lighting up ny room in the home.

  9. Leah says

    September 4, 2012 at 12:46 pm

    I just love beeswax candles but really haven’t found much variety available. I’m a huge fan of the natural color, smell and clean burning quality of beeswax and would love to have these that see pretty to look at to boot!

  10. Holly says

    September 4, 2012 at 12:41 pm

    cold and dark Chicago winters are around the corner and these would defiantly brighten up our retro home!

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