This is what I made for the mothers in our church -- Natural Soy Candles with an English Garden scent that smells like lilacs. Mmmmm. I hope they like them.
Here is a little tutorial for you, in case you want to make some, too. I made a whole bunch, so don't let the pictures scare you. You can just make one or two. You don't need to have an army of soy candles marching through your kitchen.
What You Will Need:
Soy Wax Granules -- I used Golden Brands 464 Soy Wax (this is not suitable for pillar candles)
Wicks -- I used EC 10 6" Pre-tabbed Wicks
Fragrance Oil -- I used Candle Science English Garden Scent (you need 1 oz. per 16 oz. of wax)
Jelly Jars or jar of choice
Popsicle Sticks
Crock-pot -- I used an old one that I keep for these kinds of things
Dump your soy wax into the crock-pot. Look at the size of your jar. If it is an 8 oz. jar, then use 8 oz. of wax.
**** It is really important to heat this at a very low heat because soy wax has a low flash point. In other words, if you just do this in a pot on the stove, you run the risk of the whole thing bursting into flames. I don't think that's fun. Not that I've ever tried it. I'm just saying... Oh, never mind. Just don't do it, okay? Stick it in your crock-pot and set the heat to low.
Like this. (I know you already knew how to do that, cuz your smart.)
Now wait patiently.....
You can stir it every so often... It'll give you something to do.
In a little bit, it will start to melt. Now you can prepare your jars. You can warm them to prevent them from cracking when you pour in the hot wax, and if they are very cold, you should do that. Mine were room temperature. The wax I poured into the preheated jars did strange things. It bubbled and cooled with rough pitting. I had to redo them. The wax I poured into room temperature jars was smooth and nice. So it was prettier and easier. What could be better? If you decide to warm them, you could use the dry cycle of your dishwasher, the warm setting on your oven (place them on a cookie sheet) or just rinse them under hot tap water and dry thoroughly.
I placed my jars on an old towel because I didn't want to spend the evening scraping wax drips off my counter top. But you go ahead and do what you like. Maybe you could listen to some music while you scrape. It could be fun. If you like that sort of thing...
Check your wax. If it looks white and lumpy, keep waiting. God is teaching you patience. Endure hardness as a good soldier.
......
When it is clear and no longer cloudy, you are ready for the next step. Remove it from the heat and stir in your fragrance. I used a fragrance specifically for candle making, but I would like to experiment with essential oils in the future. You will need about 1 oz. fragrance oil per 16 oz. wax. You can use more oil if you want a stronger candle and less if you want a more subtle candle. The candle will not be nearly as strong as the wax currently smells, though.
Pour the wax into the jars. I used an old measuring cup because pouring it straight from the big, hot crock-pot sounded scary.
Pop your wicks into your jars and use the popsicle sticks to hold them straight and in the center of the jar. It is a bit of a balancing act (especially when you are making as many as I did. You fix one and another one falls over. Then you knock 5 over fixing the one that fell. They were secretly laughing at me. I'm sure of it.)
Let them cool, undisturbed. When they are completely cool, they will look like this.
Trim the wicks to 1/4-1/2 inch.
Embellish your jars in whatever way you like. For these, I was going for a natural, rustic look. I used the inner canning jar lid as a template and cut circles from burlap. I used white glue to glue the burlap to the inner lids. Then I screwed down the outer ring.
I made and printed a label with candle safety instructions and glued it to the bottom of the jars. I tied on a raffia bow (it kept slipping, so I tacked them on with a dab of hot glue with my handy-dandy hot glue gun. Because no crafty girl is complete if she isn't packing a glue gun. Mine is armed, and I'm not afraid to use it.)
I added a hand stamped Mother's Day tag, and they were done.
Then I carted them to church and set up a Mother's Day gift table.
Have fun making candles. These really are easy. I'm looking forward to trying some new things with them in the future. Leave me a comment and let me know if you try them.
