Make your own candles!!

When I first got into the DIY Lip Balm thing I ordered 5lbs of wax pellets. I figured with that many I could use some to make candles with as well. I finally got around to doing it, it only took forever... But the results were well worth it, now I have some lovely beeswax candles to use!

it was a dark and stormy night...mua ha ha ha

To do this, you'll need:
1) stove
2) pan to boil water in (with water!)
3) pyrex measuring cup (mine is 2cups)
4) beeswax
5) wicks and tabs, and needle nose pliers
6) jars (i used 8oz widemouth mason jars (they come in 4 packs at walmart).
7) pencil with an eraser
8) popsicle sticks/toothpicks/skewers (anything that will span the mouth of the jar)

Step 1: melt the wax.
To do this, i put my measuring cup full of wax (over the 16oz line on the cup) into the EMPTY pan, and then filled the pan around it with water so it didn't splash out.

Just boil the water on high until all the wax is melted. I will say this step took a long time, eventually i got a wooden skewer and started stirring the blob of unmelted wax to hurry it along.

Step 2: prime the wick & assemble the tabs 

you can buy both "primed" and "unprimed" wicks online, as well as the tabs (those little metal discs you seen in the bottom of the candle) for pretty cheap. I got the unprimed kind, because they are a lot cheaper and you can cut whatever length you want (and they will be primed with the same wax as your candles). All you'll need to do is while the wax is melted dip the wick and hold it as long as you can so it can suck up some of the wax, and then take it out and hold it straight so it dries. This is so when the candle burns there is already wax there, it's not just burning straight cotton wick. 

To assemble the wick and tab, insert the wick through the hole in the tab, pull it all the way through to the end, and crimp the end of the tab closed using the needle nosed pliers. these are to hold the wicks in the candle - i guess you don't *have* to use them, but when your candles burn down and are all liquid it's good to have them there to stabilize the wicks.

Step 3: Put wicks in jar

I dipped the tab of each wick (after it was assembled) into the hot wax and used that to stick it to the bottom of the jar. it worked pretty well. These jars do really well with three wicks, narrower jars should just have one. I wish a had a pencil at this point, as it was i had to use my fingers to press the tabs to the bottom of the jar, and that wax was hot! and my fingers kept getting in the way - narrower jars will HAVE to have something like a pencil, you'll never get your hands in it.

 Step 4: stabilize the wicks

Now, i didn't think to do this ahead of time, and i wish i had. I was kind of winging this whole process, and it never occurred to me that my nice stiff primed wicks would melt when the hot wax was poured in, and they all tipped over. Save yourself some trouble; do this ahead of time. I used some more wooden skewers to hold the wicks up, but you could use toothpicks or popsicle sticks. I know they sell "wick stabilizers" on amazon if you wanted to get really technical, but 4 toothpicks in a H formation over the mouth with the wick in the center will be just fine. 

Step 5: pour the wax!

very very VERY carefully pour the wax into your jars. i like mason jars because...well...they're just awesome. Also they can handle the super hot wax you're putting in without batting an eyelash, so (unless they just came from the freezer...) no risk of them shattering and showering wax on the counter.

Step 6: trim the wicks, and LIGHT EM UP!

Beeswax does tend to change color a little bit as it cools - it started out this buttery yellow but when it was done cooling it had returned to a nice golden honey color. You can use the same procedure with Soy or Paraffin wax. Beeswax can be expensive (i got mine for $10/lb, and that was a good price)...soy would by my second choice (and better for the wallet at about $1/lb). Paraffin works, but it's less hippy-friendly. I would suggest if you want to make colored or scented candles, use Soy - beeswax has it's own honey color and scent that would overpower others. Just make sure you're using candle-safe colors (food coloring is flammable!!). 

The other nice thing about using mason jars for this, is that with a little bit of twine or pretty fabric and the lid reattached these would make EXCELLENT christmas presents! I'm thinking of getting a bunch of soy flakes and replacing all of my scented (i.e. yucky) pillar candles we use when we lose power with unscented soy candles. I would use beeswax, but it's really expensive for the amount of candles i'd want to make.