Happy Monday everybody! Raise your hand if you’re done with your Christmas shopping. 🙂
Ok, ok, I’m not either, but today I wanted to share a quick little tutorial that might get you one step closer to checking somebody off your Christmas list. You’ve probably seen a few DIY candle tutorials floating around online.
A couple weeks ago I hinted that I might be trying some candle-making of my own. The process is so simple and inexpensive! You could pick up the supplies this afternoon and have a set of candles packaged and ready to give by tonight.
Here’s what you’ll need:
1 package soy wax
containers for your candles
pre-waxed wicks
scent (optional)
The hardest part for me was finding a container to put my candles in. When I found these four ceramic cups at a flea market, I knew they’d be perfect!
I picked up all my supplies for 50% off during a sale at Hobby Lobby. The 2 lb bag of wax made about 6-8 small candles. The wicks I bought were pre-waxed and came with metal anchor tabs on one end. I decided to try the Sugar Cookie and Cranapple Spice scents.
If I’d had a microwaveable dish with a pour spout that could be sacrificed to candle-making, I would have used it, but instead I used this old Ikea bowl with a chip in it. It made pouring the wax more difficult but I’ll show you how I worked around that in a minute!
This is what the wax will look like after you’ve microwaved it. It melts down considerably, so pour more in the bowl than you think you’ll need. I microwaved the wax in one minute increments, stirring it regularly. It probably takes about 2-3 minutes to melt a bowl this size.
If you want a scented candle, pour the scent in and stir at this point. I probably put 20 drops of scent in this bowl and the resulting candles still don’t smell as strong as ones from the store. Use more scent than you think you’ll need. 🙂
Here’s a little learn-from-my-mistakes photo for you. Apparently regular food coloring won’t mix with soy wax. If you want a candle that’s not white, you’ve got to buy the soy wax coloring. Luckily I was able to save this wax by letting the coloring sink to the bottom and pouring the wax off the top.
Before pouring the wax into the containers, I spread a bit of wax onto the metal tabs at the bottom of the wicks. After letting it solidify just a bit, I pressed the wicks onto the bottom of the cups to keep them in place.
This was my solution to not having a pourable container to melt the wax in – a funnel! I wrapped up a piece of thick plastic and taped it into a cone shape to make wax pouring easier.
Once the wax was poured, I let the wax harden for a couple of hours. Even though the wax looks yellow when it’s melted, it will harden opaque and white!
The last step is to trim the wick. I cut mine to about 1/4″ – 1/2″ above the top of the candle. After that, you’re done! Easy, right?
I’ve been busy making lots of candles lately. I like finding containers that go with friends’ styles or decor and picking scents I think they’ll love! Have you ever tried your hand at candle-making? Is it something you think you’ll try?
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