We're going to make scented tarts for wax tart burners. It doesn't matter if you have an electric model or one that uses a candle to melt the wax. The tarts we are going to make will work in either style.
To begin, preheat your oven to 450 degress. I know, you're wondering why we need the oven and why it has to be so hot. We are going to use the oven to melt the wax, and the reason it has to be so hot.....well, it probably doesn't need to be quite that hot but I said this was going to be a fast project and heat equals speed!
Ok, now you'll need scented candle remnants. You can use stubs of votives, pillars, or my favorite, jar candles that still have an inch or so of wax in the bottom but won't burn anymore.
Cover your work surface with several layers of newspaper. Using a blunt tipped knife, gently cut or break the candles into small chunks. If you are using a jar candle, gently push the tip of knife into the wax and twist slightly (see bad picture below!). Be extremely careful not to break the jar. And please, please, please don't cut yourself! Discard all wicks and wick bases.
Now comes the fun part! You'll need your wax chunks, a muffin pan and foil baking cups (I call them cupcake liners). Do not use the paper ones! Separate the foil baking cups from their paper dividers and add a small handful of wax chunks to each cup. Place the cups into the wells of the muffin pan. Why didn't we fill the cups after putting them in the wells? Because then we might get little bits of wax on the muffin pan and we don't want to do that! In my example photos I'm only making four tarts because that was all the wax I had chopped up.
Now, turn the oven off. That's right, turn it off. It's plenty hot and I think it's safer that way. Using oven mitts, place your muffin pan in the oven and close the oven door. Leave it alone for about 5 minutes, then take a peek. Is the wax melted? If it is, remove the pan carefully (again, using oven mitts) and set it aside to cool. If not, shut the door and continue checking every minute or so until the wax is completely melted. Never leave the kitchen while the wax is in the oven. Safety first, ok?
Leave the pan undisturbed for about 40 minutes. Once the wax has become completely opaque, it's set. Remove the baking cups from the wells and peel them off of the wax. There you have it! Perfect wax tarts to use in your burner!
**Variations - This project can also be done using a mini-muffin pan. Again, be sure to use foil liners, not the paper ones.
For a really fun twist, you can use the mini tarts with the full sized tarts to mix scents. Cinnamon with vanilla would be nice or blueberry and apple. Just press a finished mini tart into a full sized tart as it's beginning to set. When it has fully cooled, the mini tart will be set in the middle. The scents will mingle as they melt in the tart burner!
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