Stop Tossing Old Rubber Shelf Liners: Use Them To Keep Taper Candles Straight

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Taper candles are often incorporated into a tablescape to add warm light and a touch of elegance. These candles can help to add a layered look to any display, while also being stylistically versatile. Taper candles complement a wide range of settings, from rustic to modern, in part because of their minimalist design. And whether you're making a chic taper candle holder out of a cookie tin lid or using a standard holder, it can be frustrating when your candle stick refuses to stand up straight. Although the wider base of a taper candle is meant to help it fit into the opening of the holder, not every candlestick holder is going to be the same size. Another issue you might encounter is the wax losing its shape, which can make it hard to get your candle to stand upright. If you're looking for a clever hack that keeps a tapered candle straight in its holder, Flowers by the Bunch on Facebook recommends using a piece of a rubber shelf or drawer liner to give you the stability you need.

While you can use a new roll of non-slip grip shelf liner if you have a lot of taper candles to straighten out, you can also take old liners you were planning to throw out and cut them up for this project. All you really need to do is cut small squares of rubber liner and push them into the bottom of the holder, leaving enough room that it creates a cup for the base of the candle to sit in. This lining will act as a grip to keep the candle standing straight.

Using old drawer liners as part of a candle DIY is a great way to reuse something you might otherwise throw out. However, there are a few things to consider when doing this, including what type of candle will be going into the holder and the overall look you want to achieve. Depending on the style of your candle holder, you may want to hide the rubber liner so that your display looks clean and elegant. This might mean trimming off some excess lining that is visible around the base of the holder.

Safety is another thing to consider with this hack. If you're using a flameless LED taper candle, or you don't plan to burn whatever candle you use, then you don't need to worry about possible fire hazards when adding the rubber lining to the bottom of the holder. However, if you are using real candles that will end up being lit, safety is important. You want to be mindful of having any flammable materials around a lit candle. While it may not be a concern early on in the burning process, as the flame gets lower, you may want to consider removing the rubber lining and just adding some of the melted wax to the holder instead.