This year I decided to make homemade, wood wick soy candles for some of my relatives and friends for Christmas. Every step of making them was fun and I was extremely pleased with how they all turned out! I have seen many tutorials for candles and they seem to be a bit over the top with extra steps. I cut out a lot of what I didn't find nessascary and am very happy they turned out great.
YOU WILL NEED:
- A large bag of soy wax flakes. (Remember, these will boil down so don't let the size of the bag fool you.)
- Candle pouring pot OR go the cheaper route and use an old tea pot from the thrift store like I did.
- Wicks of your choice and wick holders for the base of the candle.
- Scent of your choice. (I used Sandlewood for these ones and it was lovely)
- Spoon for stirring wax
NOTE: The wood wicks I bought came along with holders to keep the wick up right. Make sure that you have these wick stands if you don't buy them together with the wicks in a package. I used a bit of glue to keep them in place at the base of the jar.
PICKING OUT & PREPARING THE JARS
I started with a list of who I wanted to make them for and picked out pretty vintage glass containers from my favorite thrift store for each person. My favorite was this teal one I made for my sister that seemed very anthropologie inspired to me. It even came with a top (not pictured) and I can just imagine for what a similar candle would sell for in the store! I chose pretty, clear glass jars for the rest of my list because I think it better went with their style. Feel free to use any old glasses or mason jars you may have laying around the house if you don't want to go buy new ones!
MELTING & POURING THE WAX
You have to use a double boiler method to melt the wax. I used this old tea pot I bought at Goodwill for a few bucks and put it in a large pot of boiling water until the wax flakes melted clear. You can also buy an actual tin made for this at the craft store or use an old pan you don't mind throwing away. Stir occasionally. Wait until you are ready to pour the wax to put the scent in. I read somewhere that ideally, you should wait for the wax to cool off a bit before pouring to prevent the candels from sagging in the middle or cracking while drying. However, I didn't wait too long before pouring them and they turned out fine. I had to melt each candles wax individually becuase of the smaller size of the teapot and the extra room the soy flakes took up in the teapot before boiling down.
Be sure to wait to put the scent in the wax until right before pouring them into the jars!
TAAAADAAAAA!
Beautiful, origional homemade candles to keep or give away!
