Don’t Toss That Empty Candle Jar, It Has One More Use This Fall
Empty candle jars can look finished once the wick and wax are gone, but the glass container still has another use. Homedit craft and home decor creator Katie King found three ways to turn cleaned candle jars into fall pieces instead of tossing them out.
Each jar takes a different route. Orange paint goes inside one, faux maple leaves cover parts of another, and burlap with ribbon changes the third. The glass stays intact while the surface, color, or purpose changes.
The finished pieces also have different jobs. One holds a fall leaf arrangement, another becomes a pencil holder, and the burlap-wrapped jar gets an LED tea light for a new take on candlelight.
Pour paint inside the jar instead of coating the exterior
Orange craft paint goes into the cleaned candle jar rather than across its outer surface. Rotate the jar to move paint around the interior until the glass has an even coat, then remove any excess and let it dry.
Keeping the paint inside leaves the outside smooth and preserves the shine of the glass. It also turns the old candle container into a solid orange vessel without hiding its original shape.
Fill the painted jar with fall leaves
Once dry, the orange jar becomes a base for faux maple leaves in red, rust, yellow, and green. A brown ribbon around the neck creates a break between the painted glass and the leaf arrangement.
The transformation does not depend on the jar being a vase. Branches, dried stems, wheat, or seed heads could replace the faux leaves once the original candle has been removed.
Attach faux leaves while keeping some glass exposed
Another jar skips paint and uses faux leaves across the outside. The original project runs the leaves through a Xyron Creative Station Lite to add adhesive before placing them on the glass.
Clear sections between the leaves matter here. Instead of turning the container into one solid mass of fall color, the gaps preserve enough glass to reveal what sits inside.
Build the leaf pattern around the lower half
Red and orange maple leaves overlap around the base while much of the upper section stays bare. Different leaf positions keep the pattern from looking like a straight border wrapped around the jar.
Since the decoration sits outside, the interior remains open for another job. There is no need to fill it with seasonal decor for the fall treatment to show.
Use the leaf-covered jar as a pencil holder
Chunky wood pencils turn the decorated jar into desk storage. Their bark-covered bodies also work with the leaf motif, extending the fall reference above the rim instead of confining it to the glass.
Pens, paintbrushes, craft tools, or short branches could take the same spot. The jar earns a function after the candle is gone rather than becoming decor with no use.
Burlap changes the jar without covering all the glass
A third version starts with burlap, orange ribbon, and a small wood letter. The fabric only needs to cover the lower section, leaving the neck and rim exposed.
That partial wrap matters because the object still reads as glass. Burlap adds texture, while the narrow orange ribbon creates a band across its center without repeating the leaf treatment used on the other jar.
Add the wood initial over the ribbon
Once the burlap and ribbon are attached, the small wood letter sits at the center of the band. It can remain unfinished or take paint before being fixed to the fabric.
Changing the letter makes the idea easy to adapt for a name, surname, or place setting. Several jars could also carry different initials instead of repeating the same design.
Put candlelight back inside without adding another candle
The last version brings light back to the container after the original candle is gone. An LED tea light sits inside the monogrammed jar, with the flame-shaped bulb visible above the burlap.
Using an LED light avoids placing an open flame beside fabric, ribbon, adhesive, and wood. The jar ends up close to where it began, except the disposable candle container has become a fall luminary that can come out again next season.