My Favorite DIY Coffee Bar Candle
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For years, my favorite DIY coffee bar candle has been a vintage Mason jar full of coffee beans with a tapered candle in the center.
I already had tapered candles in my stash, but I was reluctant to burn them. After doing some research online about chemicals in candles, I opted to order beeswax candles.
I like to nestle a beeswax taper candle inside a vintage Mason glass jar filled with fragrant coffee beans.
Did you know that beeswax burns hotter than other waxes?
Candle Safety Tip: Keep the wick cut to 1/4 inch before each use for a steady, clean flame.
Creating a Cozy Ritual:
As the golden flame flickers, it casts a golden light that dances across that corner of the kitchen. The warm honey scent of the beeswax mingles with the aroma of roasted coffee. It turns an ordinary morning into a cozy ritual.
The vintage jar adds a touch of old-fashioned charm, while the bed of coffee beans lends texture and beauty to the display.
Whether you place your coffee bean candle on a farmhouse table or a kitchen counter, this simple arrangement cradles the room in warmth.
At my first home in Tulsa, I hung a vintage Mason jar ceiling light in my dining room. I loved that ceiling light!
Another cozy fall tip I have is to put taper candles into jars of dry beans, peas, or popcorn. It is a fun and frugal way to celebrate fall and Halloween. Vary the colors of the dry foods to create more interest.
Candle Safety Tip: Ensure your taper sits completely straight and snug in its holder—you can melt the very bottom slightly if needed to help it stick.
It’s the kind of gentle lighting that encourages you to linger over a cup of coffee. Whether you sit by the window and stare at nature outside, it’s such a pleasant moment in time.
Maybe the bees are buzzing around your pollinator plants. Or butterflies are dancing in the air around flowers. You sip your cup of coffee and sigh with contentment.
The contentment comes from having a well-loved home that is tidy and cozy and embraces you in a pleasant setting of your own creation.
Creating My Coffee Bar Candle:
I open a bag of fall-scented coffee beans and pour them into a mid-sized vintage jar. The coffee beans I ordered smell like pumpkin spice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. All the smells associated with the fall season.
I think it’s nice to have a jar full of coffee beans appropriate for the season on my coffee bar. And the scent of coffee beans when I walk in the kitchen is delectable!
Candle Safety Tip: Place your tapers away from open windows, ceiling fans, or air vents to prevent uneven melting, smoking, and messy dripping.
Natural Beeswax Candles:
I ordered a six-pack of natural beeswax candles from Amazon. These candles are made of 100% natural beeswax.
Unlike paraffin candles, 100% pure beeswax candles do not contain any additives or synthetic chemicals. Plus, they don’t leave behind black soot from smoke when they are burned.
These candles are both smokeless and dripless, which is a great benefit of using beeswax. They cost a little more, but to me, it is worth it.
You will find that you don’t need a scented candle when you use coffee beans. Pay attention to what kind of candle you choose, because some are better for you and the environment than others.
Candle SAFETY TIP: Never leave a burning candle unattended.
A vintage jar with your favorite coffee beans along with a tapered candle is all you need for this small project. It will make your mornings more pleasant.
Drip-Free Wick Maintenance
Before lighting the first time, trim the wick to 1/4″. Before lighting it again, trim the tip of the wick to remove any particles gathered in the wick. The wick generally trims itself as it burns.
Trimming the wick too short may cause the candle to drip (it burns and melts the delicate side wall, which contains the wax pool).
How to Properly Extinguish a Beeswax Taper Candle
Use a candle snuffer to extinguish the candle flame. Avoid handling the wick after it is cooled, as it could break.
Don’t blow out your candles! Doing so will cause smoldering wicks. Smoldering wicks continue to burn the wick slightly and will ruin the wick.
You’ve convinced me to only use beeswax candles. I love the idea of an open jar of beans! Putting it on the to-do list!
I’ve always heard how beeswax candles are the best. Unfortunately, I still have some scented candles to use up, but going forward, I’ll stick with these safer beeswax candles. I also have a diffuser, for essential oils. As I don’t have any animals, I don’t have to worry about that, but I still make sure that my friends with pets know about the dangers of using essential oils around them. I love the idea of a slow cooking pot on the stove filled with natural fall scents, like cinnamon sticks, etc. Sounds heavenly! My laundry detergent and fabric softeners are scented, but I stopped using fabric dryer sheets years ago.
I have become so sensitive to fumes and chemicals..great info. I will def check out your suggestions next time I purchase candles. I do have some scented candles and burn them some occasionally..they do not seem to bother my sinuses..so when these are gone..will opt out for the scented ones. I do purchase the natural dishwasher and spray cleaners with the no checmicals..can’t remember what its called..lol But I am sometimes in a battle with hub re his cologne..thats fun. What really gets me..is to go into a restaurant and they spray to clean the tables around me. I have literally had to get up and exit…and some of the cleaning products used in the stores are horrific. I once went into HR when working to protest what was being used in the breakroom..as I sat near the area and it was def harsh chemicals. It ceased shortly thereafter..I know HR hated to see me coming..lol So with this all (probably unnecessary said)..I am right there with you. I like flavored coffee but have it only once or twice a year since hub is not a fan. Cheers to the Fall Season and candles. Thanks for the informative post.
correction 4th sentence…make that will opt out for the “unscented” ones.. lol
If I want my house to smell extra nice (especially in the winter) I’ll make a steeping pot. Fill a pan with water, add any citrus peels you have on hand, whole cinnamon sticks, star anise etc and it not only adds a nice aroma but also helps with dryness caused by having the heat on. Just make sure to keep it on low and check the amount of water frequently so that it doesn’t dry out.
I love the beeswax candles too – and such a cute idea putting the taper in the coffee beans! I no longer use the scented candles like Yankee candles as my sinuses get irritated and often I get a headache. Can’t stand strong perfumes of any kind. For laundry, I use the Tru Earth sheets.
I read that those tall,lovely candles around the Queen’s casket were beeswax.
I haven’t used any toxic cleaning products or candles in my house in years. I know how harmful they are to both people and pets. I also use unscented laundry detergent, even though I know it’s all chemicals. But I’m not ambitious enough to make my own laundry detergent. I don’t ever use dryer sheets – those are super toxic, even the unscented ones.
I love the scent of flavored coffee beans but not for drinking. I like just plain coffee!
Hi Brenda:
Great idea- I am going to try this. Also , I use a reader ( The Old Reader) for my blogs -do the bloggers “see” this as opening an email? Thanks!
Great idea about using the beeswax candles.. and love the use of the Fall flavored coffee beans for the scent! What do they use to give those that flavor I wonder? Are they also safe (the scent)??? Maybe they uses spices. I like keeping a simmering pot of water on my stove sometimes, with cinnamon sticks, cloves and spices, but of course, can’t do that all the time. I like the idea of using the coffee beans to hold up the candle! I’m going to look into that for my dining table for Fall scents! Thanks! Marilyn
I looked and it says Specialty Class 1 Arabica coffee beans, the top 2% of the coffee beans grown in the world + spices. I’m not planning to use them for coffee to drink.
There are so many toxins in everything any more-or so it seems. I think soy candles are okay, too, as well as the beeswax.
I hope you have a great week, Brenda. Diana
Both of those are much better than paraffin candles.
My daughter gets a terrible sinus headache breathing any kind of perfumed candles, so I haven’t been able to use them for years! We even have to use unscented laundry detergent. Turns at it’s been healthier for all of us all along. Your post was very informative, and I’m going to try the taper in coffee beans.
I have to use unscented laundry detergent too. The scented detergent irritates my skin.
We found out the hard way that scented detergent was not good for me. Mom washed most things with a new detergent tablet she got in the mail when I was about 8 or 9. We were at mass when I started itching and it got so bad that Dad was really irritated – had we not been in church, I’m sure I would have been spanked. By the time we got home, I was almost covered with a rash – I can remember the itching too. I ended up in the ER as I started having problems breathing. They took care of it and told mom & dad that I wasn’t the only patient with a bad reaction to the table detergent. I had to sleep on a tablecloth in dad’s shirt until she rewashed all our clothes. I’ve been extra careful since then.
I buy everything unscented. It confounds me that people aren’t concerned with breathing all that stuff into their lungs. Good info about the beeswax candles and the lack of soot residue. Your coffee corner looks wonderful.
I too buy unscented products. I have asthma and very dry skin. I would never even consider one of those things you plug in or spray for scent. When I was young and ignorant of these things, I used them. Not any more.
I just burn the yankee candles all yr. I wait for the candles to go on sale then I’ll buy some. I have the tapered candles too but I never burn them, there for decorating purposes only.
I’m getting more into using oils now and there better for your health!
I love the scented candles. But unfortunately what they use to make them smell so good isn’t so good for us.
If anyone has pets be sure to research essential oils. Many are toxic to dogs and cats
I agree!
Thanks for the tip! I’m a candle freak but never considered the toxins.
There are chemicals in so many things that are manufactured and that we buy thinking they are looking out for us. They aren’t. It’s all about the money.
Brenda, thank you for the information on the beeswax candles. And as always your coffee bar is adorable.
I did some reading and it seems, according to everything I read, that beeswax candles are the safest.
It blows my mind, that all these chemicals are in our stores. How can manufacturers in good conscience produce these items, it is everywhere. And they wrap out car wires in a soy product so it attracts rodents which causes us thousands of dollars to fix. You hit the nail on the head, Brenda. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Thanks for offering up some safe alternatives. Vinegar, baking soda, essential oils like our grandma used worked well. And then you have to be careful of the scented fake oils, etc. Funny story (not really!) I switched to a plant based laundry detergent that our daughter uses when her and the boys lived with us for 4 months between deployments. After about 3 months my husband had mosquito bites that itched. He got more and more and they were different shapes and configurations. I was going crazy, was it bed bugs, fleas, etc. Thank goodness the Dr. asked if we used a new soap etc. I hindsight, my husband is allergic to a lot of weeds, plants and mold. The plant based detergent was the culprit. Take care.
I don’t think they care about it enough to have a good conscience. They are out to make as much money as possible.
Brenda~
I read through this post three times and still am confused by this sentence:
I opened a bag of fall-scented coffee beans and poured them into a mid-sized vintage jar.”
What are “Fall scented coffee beans”?
I find Fall/Harvest?Autumn FLAVORED coffee beans.. is this to which you are referring?
Thanks~
Loui
I’m sorry for the confusion! I went back and added what the beans smell like. And this is what I ordered and was referring to:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EYNJL9K?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
Thanks for the clarification!!!