Addicted to Candles

I have a confession. I am addicted to candles. I love what they do to my home: they make it smell good, they look pretty, and they supposedly make you look more attractive, too!

Like all addictions, though, this one can get pricey. Can you imagine paying $129 for a "fashion candle"? I can. I have. Please don't tell my husband. Disclaimer: it was realllly beautiful. It was huge, and it had fleur-de-lis wax accents on the sides. But I digress. . .

Now for the good stuff: you can burn real candle wax, and get all the benefits of the scent and flickering of a real candle, without paying crazy prices. And you only need 5 things:

• A candle you love (new or only very slightly used; larger and higher quality are best)
• A tea light candle
• A 1.5" woodboring drill bit (about $6)
• A drill
• 2 minutes

You are going to love me for this. Love. Me. Because you are going to save lots of money with this "trick".

Here's what you do:

1. Cut down the wick on your candle as far as you can.
2. Drill out the center of your candle using the bit; do this slowly, as you can always make the hole deeper, but you don't want to drill down too far.
3. Drop the tea light into the center of your candle, making sure it sits level with the top of your large candle, or just slightly below the top.

Voila! Now when you want the benefits of a real candle you will burn the tea light, which is replaceable for less than a dollar. You never have to replace your huge, expensive candle again! You also have the added benefit of no more waxy messes on your tables or inside your candle holders.

I used to be pretty crazy about trying to match my tea lights to my candles, but sometimes it's pretty to use contrasting colors. You can also drop in unscented tea lights if you're using your candle during a dinner party. Genius, right?

Let me know what you think!