DIY Wax Cupcakes

So I noticed my stockpile of old wax was getting up there again, so I thought it was time for a wax craft.
Many people have melted down their old wax to recycle it for use once more, allowing the sediment to settle out to the bottom of the melted wax. I wanted to have a little fun with it.
For this, I used a cupcake tin, some cupcake liners (I used 3 liners per slot), a microwave proof thick walled bowl, and some old chopsticks as stirrers. I also got some scented Almond food extract to add in, since the wax had lost a lot of smell, and I wanted to try some food coloring to dye the wax. Oh, and the old wax, of course:

After getting everything together, I divided the wax up into warm and cold water wax, based on marking and also on the feel of the wax.

Cold on left, warm/tropical on right

If you have big chunks of wax, try breaking them down as much as possible, or you can even use an old grater. It just makes the process go a bit faster, but you still need some patience with this. Also, this is a messy project, so you may want to cover up your work area a bit in the kitchen so they're not greasy wax flying about over everything.
Transfer the some of the wax (not all yet) into the microwave proof bowl and set the oven for 20 minutes on high.

Grated wax in bowl

You are going to check on your melted wax every 3-5 minutes during this time, and stir it with the chopstick to make sure the heat is even and the wax melts evenly. Once the wax is liquid, add a big chunk if you have one, and cover it with the liquid wax using your chopstick. This helps heat up the big chunk faster.
Once all of your wax has become liquid, add a few drops of the almond flavoring. If you think this might give you a rash, don't do it and skip this step and the next.
Also, during this time I added some yellow food coloring to this wax since this wax was "warm water" wax, and I would be able to identify it easier. I've heard of adding crayon shavings, which is smart, but I wanted to try food coloring. Unfortunately, this food coloring, either due to it's consistency, age, or compatibility, didn't dye evenly throughout the wax, but made little reddish specks in the wax, which I thought was pretty cool.

Speckled wax

Try to get some of the bubbles out with the chopstick stirrer one last time, then you're ready to pour the melted wax into each cupcake liner. This is tricky and VERY hot, so go slow and be careful while filling each liner in the tin.
Let the wax cool for a bit, around 15-20 minutes, then put it in the freezer to harden up all the way. When you remove each "cupcake", the extra liners you used will make it easier to pop them out of the tin, and just peel the paper off of each one. Mine have a faint scent of almond, put not overpowering, since I didn't go nuts with the extract. At least the original funky smell is a bit covered up.
Here's one finished:

Warm water wax. Looks more like a Reese cup! Mmmmm....

Here's a birthday plate of them, just don't eat them, please.

Happy Birthday!

I think it would be fun to stick a birthday candle in the center of one before the wax hardens up, then you have a nice little birthday gift for a fellow surfer. FUN!