handmade in Kansas city
As an avid craft beer enthusiast and designer, I was saddened to see great, sometimes limited, beer bottles and labels just disposed of after being enjoyed. As a hobby, I began creating candles from the discarded bottles to preserve the artistic label and memories for friends. Suddenly I was being asked to create candles for others, utilizing bottles from their favorite beer, brewery, wine, or winery. That’s when my hobby sprung into what is known as Whalez Candles.
So what’s the significance of the whale?
Within the world of beer, many limited and hard to obtain beers are known as whales. Whalez Candles initially started by creating candles from limited, but also local bottles, so the name was undoubtedly naturally born from our start. We continue to upcycle local and limited bottles for a diverse variety. Our goal is to supply you with your favorite local bottle or ‘whale’, so you can have a great conversation piece while enjoying the amazing aroma(s) it creates in any environment. Everything is all done by hand, so no two will ever be the same! Did I mention we do cans too?
F*Cancer bottles were made into candles and donated to the strong individuals currently fighting cancer.
While we are committed to supporting local, we are also committed to helping others. When you purchase a candle from WhalezCandles, you are not only supporting upcycling, but also supporting cancer research. 10% of our monthly sales will be donated to Cancer Action, in hopes that one day, cancer will be a thing of the past.
Where can you find us?
City Barrel Brewing
Crane Brewing
Lifted Spirits Distillery
Sandhills Brewing
Stockyards Brewing
Fields and Ivy Brewing
….and more!
Who do you help?
Each year we anonymously donate a portion of all sales to these respective charities that help the greater KC area. We gave away over 500 candles in 2020 to charities for donations and we expect to exceed that in 2021.
All bottles have a smooth inner and outer edge
Quality
We use 100% up-cycled bottles that are cleaned and sanitized prior to going through the candle process and again, prior to shipping. One of the biggest things that drive us as a company, is quality. When we cut glass, we ensure that all surfaces are smooth to the touch on both the inner and outer bevels of the bottle. We do not release any candles with any chips or cracks in the glass and all candles go through a two-stage inspection process before being shipped.
Example of high quality label
Bottle Labels
Beer bottle label quality ranges from the top of the line to, “this might dissolve if water touches it”. They all react differently to our process when we cut the bottles. We do our very best to preserve labels, but once in a blue moon (less than 1%), some will have a small imperfection. When you look at the candles in our shop, you are seeing the exact candle you would purchase. These are not stock photos, we take 100% of the photos and what you see in the photo is the actual product being sold.