Candle Making 101

As part of our ‘crafty Christmas’ Pan and I decided to make some homemade candles. Now we have seen a host of this DIY craft on other sites and in books. But we wanted to kind of go out on our own and do something we had available to us and that intrigued us. So about a month ago we headed to our local craft supply and bought the following:

  • Microwaveable soy wax
  • Pre-waxed wicks

And then got together a clothespin, a microwaveable measuring glass/cup, some wood from our land and about 1 hour of time.

Materials

Before we could begin though Pan set about finding just the right wood from our land that she felt would make good candles. We decided to make both cylindrical “candlesticks” as well as bored out candle chunks. Once she got the wood, she used her 1″ chisel and stripped the bark off. Using 180 grit sandpaper she smoothed the surface and gave it a very artistic look rather than a “rustic country cabin” look. The last prep step was to rub linseed oil on all the wood and allow it to dry completely.

Scrapin

Once the wood had completely dried we took them all inside and laid them out on paper towels with the holes upward ready to receive the wax. Before melting the wax though we measured and cut the wicks to there would be right at an inch of wick for each candle.

Wick

Following the directions on the soy wax packaging Pan and I broke off some chunks of wax, put them into the microwaveable measuring cup and allowed it to melt. We then carefully poured the wax into the holes of the candles. Lastly we put the wick down into the wax and secured them in place with the clothespin.

Pouring wax

After letting the wax cool for about 10 minutes we removed the clothespins and beheld our new, homemade, decorative (and functional) candles.

candles

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5 Responses to “Candle Making 101”

  1. alice Says:

    Beautiful! And how lovely to use wood from your own land.

  2. Stephanie Says:

    Fantastic idea!

  3. Liz Says:

    I love these!! The log looking ones are the best. Good job, guys.

  4. Lisa Says:

    I love the idea and the use of real wood and it being your own wood! But I think I missed someting? What happens to the flame when the candle burns down? Since the wax and wick are surrounded by the wood wouldn’t the wick burn down INTO the holder? Please help me understand this concept? I love the idea of this, but am not sure I understand what happens when you burn the candle inside the holder? Thanks so much! I LOVE your Blog and your ideas!

  5. Lea @ Silver Harvest Candles Says:

    Beautiful!!!What a great idea…

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