How to make your own candles

As you all know, 2018 is my Year of Craft. I’m trying to work my way through my craft stash, my wall of craft books and piles of fabric. The idea is to make the craft kits, weed out some of the unwanted books, and use up the fabric before I buy anymore. I have to admit that the last few weeks have been so busy I haven’t had time to make much. I’ve done a small amount of paper cutting and a stash of projects to make over Easter.

With guests coming for Easter I wanted to up my game by making some handmade candle gifts. I had a candle making kit from Homecrafts which included wax and stearin, moulds, candle dye, wicks, wick supports and sustainers. It had been a while since I last tried making my own candles so I was excited to have another go.

I decided to try and give my handmade gifts as Easter twist so found a vintage egg cup and Easter-themed cookie cutters to use as moulds. I roughly measured out my wax, added a few spoonfuls of stearin and watched them melt. I actually used my husband’s paint kettle in a saucepan of boiling water, this worked really well.

When the wax had fully melted I added a few shavings of yellow candle dye. I thought this would make a great colour for Spring. I let the wax cool down slightly before transferring it to a jug so I could pour into my moulds. I did this as I knew I couldn’t pour the wax directly from the paint kettle and my moulds were quite small.

I had already prepared the wicks and wick supports, and I placed them in the bottom of the egg cup, using a small piece of blu tack to stop it floating up when the wax was poured in. I placed my cookie cutters on a piece of baking parchment on a baking tray, with the wick in the centre of each one. I used a couple of small jars to make smaller candles too.

When I was ready I transferred the wax into a glass jug and then poured my wax into each mould. The cookie cutters were slightly tricky to fill, so I ended up pouring a small amount into each one, letting it cool slightly before adding a little more wax. I placed heavy weights on top of the cookie cutters to make sure the wax didn’t run out.

I placed my filled jars in the washing up bowl which I had filled with cold water. This helped to speed up the process of the wax solidifying.

I left the candles for a few hours before removing the wick supports and trimming the wick. I removed the candles from the cookie cutters, which came out easily thanks to the addition of the stearin.

I love the little vintage egg cup, I think this might be my favourite so far.

I also like the jar candles even though they are quite simple. I added a strip of Duck Tape to the larger one but I’m tempted to let my children decorate the smaller ones with glass pens.

I can’t wait to make more candles. I still have loads of supplies as well as all sorts of shapes of moulds, colours and scents to try out. Have you ever thought about making your own candles at home?

You may be interested in my other posts about candles:

How to make soy teacup candles

How to make a personalised tin candle