Making Candles

Yesterday my sister-in-law, Sondra, and I made candles.  This was a first for both of us, and, despite the fact that there were probably 398,574 other things we each should have been doing, making candles won.  This turned out to be a very simple, fast and relatively inexpensive project that we plan to do again soon.

Candles can be made in a huge variety of containers, but since Sondra had about a dozen leftover 8 oz. glass jars we used those.  We bought a 4 lb. bag of microwaveable soy wax, a set of pre-waxed wicks with clips (make sure you buy soy-specific wicks if you're using soy wax; we used Helix Wick), and two 1 oz. bottles of fragrance oils.  This is the only place where we fell short--a 1 oz. bottle of oil will make 2-3 oz. candles (we made 2, which I'd recommend if you want a stronger scent).  Here's a list of everything you'll need:

Glass jars (or any candle-appropriate container)

Microwaveable wax, preferably soy

Fragrance oils

Wicks (with clips attached, to make things easier)

Microwave safe container suitable for pouring melted wax

Measuring bowl

Pencils (1 for each candle, to attach to wicks)





Start by measuring 24 oz. of wax shavings in a large measuring bowl (this will make two 8 oz. candles).  Once measured, pour into a microwave-safe container that will be easy enough to pour into jars without making a holy mess of your countertops and all surrounding areas.





The box instructs you to microwave for 30-60 seconds, then once it has all melted check with a thermometer to ensure it is 180 degrees.  We didn't have a thermometer on hand, so we just made sure the wax was fully melted and didn't cook longer than necessary and the candles turned out fine.  We microwaved ours for 30 seconds, stirred, then 1 more minute, stirred, then 1 more minute.  After that there were a few chunks of wax that we just stirred until they melted completely.



Before pouring any wax into jars, you'll have to anchor the wicks and clips to the bottom using hot glue.  Just put a small dab of glue on the center of the anchor and glue to the center (or in my case, way off center) of the bottom inside of the jar.  Wait to trim the wicks until the wax has been poured and cooled.  Hold the wicks upright and pour until slightly below the lid line of the jar.





To keep the wicks straight while the wax cools wrap the ends around a pencil and balance the pencil on top of the jar.





Once the wax is completely cool (we left ours out for about 4 hours), trim the wick to about 1/4" from the wax.



Light and enjoy!  Many of our jars were missing lids, so we took charm squares (as you may recall, I have plenty in stock) and placed them on top of the jar and tied a ribbon around it.



This one was the Gingerbread Orange scent, which smelled delicious.

Side note, and totally unrelated topic, I reread this post about half a dozen times because I was worried I randomly typed "good boy!" in here somewhere.  Chad was training Howard (not an elderly man, just our 2 year old Corgi with rampant social phobias) and kept repeating "Good boy!" while I was typing.



It's tiring to be such a good boy.



~Stacy