Since March is National Craft Month, I figured it was time to finally use the candle making kit I received for Christmas. I haven’t made candles on my own before so it had the possibility of being an adventure. In fact, the last time I remember making candles was during a beach trip as a young child. We dug our molds into the sand and poured the wax it. Sand candles, a fond childhood memory.
This time around, I was using a kit and had no adult supervision. The kit I have came from Amazon and is made by Candlewic. I prefer soy candles because they burn cleaner, cooler, and longer. The kit is advertised as having everything you need to make 12 candles in tins.
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The kit comes with four 1 lb.
Making the Candles
The first thing I did was cover my kitchen counter in brown paper. The directions said it makes for much easier clean up. Kind of a no-brainer, really. Then I prepared the tins by gluing the wicks to the center bottom of each container, Next, I got out an older pot (not one of my good ones, just in case) and filled it half way with water. I poured 1 bag of wax chips into the pour pot and placed it in the water pot. This makes a double boiler to melt the wax in.
When the wax started to melt, I attached the thermometer. The coloring included in this kit is a solid, and the wax needed to reach 140 degrees before adding the color tablet. I chose turquoise for my first set of candles. It’s such a pretty color.
The next step was to let the wax cool enough to add the scent. Four scents came with the kit. My future plan is to make candles with my essential oils. For now though, I stuck to the instruction sheet. I added the agave nectar scent to the turquoise wax. Then I poured the wax into the prepared tins. It filled three of them perfectly. Finally, I used the bow tie clips to hold the wicks straight while the wax cooled.
A Small Problem
I was having so much fun that I decided to make my next batch. This one used red coloring and red pineapple scent (red pineapple, who knew?). The last two scents in the kit are wildflower and mango-banana, and the last two colors are green and orange. I’ll make those later in the week because I ran into a small problem with batch number two.
The kit only came with three bow tie clips and I was on a roll. Once you get started, it’s pretty fun. I also didn’t want to clean up yet. But what to do about those clips? Since the kit comes with only three, I had to come up with a replacement. After a quick check of my kitchen cupboards, I came up with a skewer and tape solution. It worked, but it would have been much easier to have either more clips or extra hands to hold the wick while I taped.
The next problem to face was clean up. You can’t just pour the wax in the sink. At least, not unless you really like calling a plumber. It will harden and clog your drain. Most of the wax was poured into the candle tins, but there was a little left on the sides of the pouring pot and on the thermometer. I wiped it all out with paper towels. It took a bit of time, but wasn’t too bad. And now I have six beautiful candles ready to use or give as gifts.
This was a fun project that didn’t take a lot of time. I think, all total, I spent about an hour. That includes clean up, and searching for a clip alternative, as well as taking photos along the way.
Future Candle Ideas
I will definitely be making more candles in the future. The kit is only half used. I still have my mango-banana and wildflower candles to make and put into tins. But I am also looking beyond the kit to what else I might be inspired to do. Amazon has loads of supplies when I need them and so does my local craft supply store. I found some fun projects on Pinterest that I am itching to try.
Instead of using tins to pour the wax into, I could recycle glass jars, use up some of my ever-growing canning jar collection, or even old tea cups. Any container could work. I also want to experiment with some of my essential oils and candles. I know some essential oils don’t do well at high temperatures, but I plan on doing more research before I start. Maybe I’ll even talk my kids into a candle making session at the beach. Now that would be fun!
Thanks for reading and please share. If you have any candle making tips please tell me about them in the comments below.
