Do you feel the spirit of DIY descending upon you? Find out what it takes to make beautiful and professional-looking DIY candle at home. Discover a world of fun and fitness with candle craft this year with the help of simple wax, wicks, and glass holders.
How to make candles?
Candle making is one of the oldest methods of crafting, and even young kids can do it with minimal supervision from adults. If you are already interested in arts and crafts, know that you can get creative with creating candles at home, and the more you work on this new craft, the bigger and more impressive your candles in time.
If you have ever seen those aesthetic and artistic candles in malls, know that those are accomplished by dipping a central candle into different vats of hot wax and then peeling the layers back with a paring knife so that the layers would look like petals. They can be layered properly with the design in mind.
All you need for this type of candle-making are wax molds and the patience to dip the finished product into different wax buckets until you have the right amount and thickness sticking to the candles.
You can then make intricate slices across the candle’s surfaces, and then you can proceed to pull back the layers as you please while the wax is still solidifying in its semi-warm state. Candle-making is a satisfying pastime, and you can also make money from your DIY projects when your candles look professional enough.
Since the hot wax takes care of itself and you only have to set the colors, layers, and fragrances used, it’s not going to be difficult at all to start creating professional-looking candles at home with the simplest of tools and materials.
Table of Contents
Materials and Tools Required For Candle Making
- Pouring pot for candle making
- Electric stove or electric hot plate
- Glass holders for candles
- Candle wax
- Candle wick
- Candle wick holder
- Fragrance oil (this is optional)
- Candle dyes or color (this is optional)
- Popsicle sticks or skewers
Shop our candle-making supplies.
How to Make a Candle?
The best choice for making DIY candles are glass holders that are designed for candles. However, if you already have small, empty glass jars at home, they will do just as fine as the commercial candle holders. If you have a used candle holder at home, just clean it thoroughly before making the candle.
Step 1: Place the candle wick dead center in the vessel and leave the wick hanging off the vessel’s lip. Leave these materials as is and move on to step two.
Step 2: Switch on the electric stove and place your pot on the stove. Place the appropriate amount of candle wax in the pot and allow the wax to melt.
Step 3: The melting should happen almost immediately if the pot is already warm. Put a few drops of candle dye into the mix and add the fragrance.
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how much dye and fragrance you should be adding to each batch. Alternatively, you can create a large batch of candle-ready wax and use several empty jars to make a bigger batch of DIY candles at a time. But if you are like us, you may want to experiment with different dyes and swirls when pouring the candle wax.
Step 4: When the fragrance and dye have been well-integrated into the wax, turn off the heated plate or electric stove and take the pot or pan to your working station. Gently pour the wax into the empty vessel up to an inch of the brim. Ensure that the weighted portion of the candle wick is placed in the appropriate section of the vessel, so the wick doesn’t suddenly move when you start pouring the hot wax.
Remember, you won’t be able to quickly change the wick’s position once you start pouring because the wax is very hot, and we don’t recommend dipping even a gloved finger into that vessel once the wax is finally in.
If the wick keeps moving, that’s where the popsicle sticks or skewers will come in. Use the stick’s tip to keep the wick in the right position until you can pour all of the contents in the vessel.
If you are having trouble with the larger DIY candles at this point, you may want to get smaller tea light containers next time so you can make much smaller candles.
Step 5: When the vessel is finally filled to the appropriate level, you can cut off the wick at the desired length. Allow the wax to cool, and you finally have a nice DIY candle!
How to Choose Wax for Homemade Candles?
Selecting the right wax for a homemade candle will depend on the type of candle you want to produce and the candle’s appearance in general.
Type of waxes for homemade candles:
- Soy wax is one of the common choices for making candles. This type of wax comes in standard wax blocks and wax flakes. You can use soy wax for making votive candles, tea lights, etc. Soy wax is at par with paraffin wax when it comes to performance.
- Beeswax is 100% organic and has its special scent because it is derived from what bees produce. One advantage of beeswax is you can purchase the wax in sheet form.
- Paraffin wax is also called straight wax and is the plainest type of wax used for candles. Paraffin wax can be used for all kinds of candle creations, and it’s very cheap, too. Use it for votive candles, pillar candles, etc.
- Palm wax – Palm wax is another cost-effective choice for making candles, and you have the bonus of being able to create candles with different kinds of textures. If you are interested in feathering patterns in DIY candles, go for palm wax.
- Granulated wax – Granulated wax is also known as crafting wax, and it’s naturally soft and easy to manipulate. The fun thing about granulated wax is they’re made of small wax beads, so pouring them into a container requires no further heating. Insert the wick of your choice, pour the wax beads into the vessel, and you’re done.
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