Problem Solved - Getting Melted Wax Out of Candle Holders

A couple of years ago, I "ruined" these candle holders by not promptly dumping out the melted wax after the candles burnt out.  As you would expect, the wax then proceeded to harden, sticking to the glass and rendering the candle holders pretty useless. 


In preparation for Christmas decorating, I decided that it's finally time to either part with these things, or figure out how to bring them "back to life".  So, as is my usual custom, I consulted my source for all things - Google. 

The first result I found suggested putting the candle holders in the freezer for a few minutes, and the wax would "pop right out".  Well, here's what they looked like after a good 5-10 minutes in the freezer -

Not much different - just colder....

The next result I found suggested putting them upside down on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil in the oven with the oven set to its lowest setting - which, incidentally, is 170 degrees for my oven.  I set the kitchen timer to 10 minutes so I didn't forget about them, and after 10 minutes, here was the result:



It worked!  I used a paper towel to wipe out any excess melted wax, and the votive looked good as new!  The second one took a little longer to melt out (close to 20 minutes), but after cleaning them up, I'm happy to report they're now back in working order - just in time for Christmas :-) 

And to think I considered throwing them away!