What You Will Need:
Glass Votives (I used Mason Jars)
Double Broiler
- You don't want your wax on a direct source of heat!
- Use only if you want a scented candle
- You can buy essential oils online or at a health food store-- like Whole Foods
- I used grapefruit essential oil
- Take care-- if it isn't an essential oil, it will BURN!!
- You can buy this on Amazon for cheap-- shipping is what will cost you. I have a "Super Savers" account, so I got my shipping free! (Which I'm sure would've added up for a 10 pound block of wax).
- You can also buy wax at Michael's-- but it will probably be twice the price of what you could buy online
Wick Tabs
- These are fancy little metal tabs that hold the wick down
- It cost $8 for 150 of these little guys-- not unreasonable
- I've also seen people use metal washers instead of wick tabs, if that works for you-- by all means go for it!
- I just used these to pour my excess wax into
- When the wax cools, you can peel back your filters and your wax is nicely contained!
- I used 3-4 crayons I thought would make a nice color for my candles
- You will use these to tie your wicks around
- Gather your materials
- Start by threading your cotton wick onto your wick tab and knot the end of your wick
- Now, determine how long your wick needs to be by putting it in your votive
- Make sure to leave your wick pretty long-- it needs to be a little longer than the height of the votive so that you can make a knot at the top
- Tie the knot onto your pen or pencil and then leave it resting on the lip of your votive
- Make sure to try to place it as close to the center as you can
- Set these guys aside until your wax is ready
- Boil your water for the double broiler
- Break off enough wax to either fill your pot or make the number of candles you want
- Peel off the paper on your crayons, and add them to your pot full of wax
- Place your pot full of wax on your double broiler and keep an eye on it-- you want your wax to melt, not boil
- Stir your wax every once and a while after it starts to melt
- Once your wax is melting, dip your cotton wick into the wax and then pull it out
- (You dip the wick in the wax so that the wick doesn't burn too quickly)
- After you've dipped your wicks into the wax, center them back on the lip of your votives
- Once your wax is completely melted, add your essential oils
- (I just dumped enough oil in until the wax smelled as strong as I wanted my candle to smell)
- Gently pour your wax into your votives
- (I didn't get a picture of this because it was messy and I was working fast so the wax wouldn't cool)
- This is what your candles should look like:
- (P.S. Do NOT do what I did and put these guys in the freezer to cool down. I was in a hurry and wanted them to set fast, so I put them in the freezer. If you do this, the outside will cool faster than the inside does and the middle sinks in. Let your candles solidify at room temperature! I ended up having to put the candles in the oven to try to: "reset" the wax and it took me even longer if I had just let them settle at room temp in the first place! Haha I guess that's what I get for trying to take shortcuts in life!)
- Once your candles cool, cut the wick knot from your pen and they are ready to be used!!
No comments:
Post a Comment