How to Start Making Your Own Candles

Have you ever thought about making your own candles?

Come on, who doesn’t love a good candle? The soft light, the ambiance, the hypnotic flicker of flame and that amazing scent that fills your room in the aroma of your choice…

What if you could have all that and know exactly what is in your candle?

You can if you make your own candles! It’s fun, it’s easy and it’s actually pretty inexpensive! Follow along and see how easy it is to start making your own candles!

What You Need to Start Making Your Own Candles

This is definitely one of the shorter shopping lists I’ve had for one of my DIY projects.

DIY Candle Making Kit – I got mine from Amazon (the day I ordered it!)
Scissors (for cutting the wick)
Pot (for boiling water)

Why I chose the Craft-Zee Candle Making Kit…

Making your own candles sound like it would be really fun and something I could make into a new hobby. But before I spent a lot of money buying everything needed to get started in candle-making one piece at a time, I figured I could just get everything I need in one order. And so I did! The Craft-Zee kit from Amazon had everything needed to start making candles. And it’s SO much cheaper and faster than buying everything separately.

What’s in the Candle Making Kit?

The kit has everything you need to get started making your own candles:

4 – 8 oz bags of soy wax
4 – candle tins
4 – cotton wicks
4 – fragrances (cinnamon & vanilla, lavender, cotton clean, coconut lime)
4 – color dye blocks
4 – glue dots (to hold the wick in place in the bottom of the container)
4 – stirring sticks
4 – bow tie clips (to hold the wick in place at the top of the container)
4 – warning labels (fire is hot, don’t eat the wax, etc)
1 – thermometer
1 – melting pitcher
1 – instructions sheet

Getting Your Supplies Gathered

To make the first candle, get out the supplies you’ll need for one candle. You’ll need:

1 wick
1 fragrance bottle (your choice)
1 color dye block (your choice of color; you don’t even need to use one if you want a plain white/beige candle)
1 8oz soy wax bag
1 stirring stick
1 bow tie clip
1 candle tin
1 thermometer and melting pitcher
1 pot of water (big enough to put the melting pitcher in)
1 heat source (I used my gas range)

Use these supplies to make one candle.

How to Make the Candle

Melt the Wax and Color

Place the Melting Pitcher in the pot and fill with enough water to submerge at least half of the Pitcher, but not so much that you run the risk of the water spilling over.
Pour the wax from 1 8oz soy wax bog into the Melting Pitcher.
Place the Pitcher into the pot of water and bring to a boil.
Place your melting pitcher into a pot of water. This makes a double-boiler.
When the wax starts melting, add in a block of color (or half, depending on how much color you want in your candle). Remember that you don’t need to add any color at all; it’s ok to have a white/beige candle. Stir the color block until it is completely dissolved.
Make sure the wax and color block are fully melted and blended.
Using the thermometer, bring the temperature of the wax to 185 degrees fahrenheit.

IMPORTANT: Monitor the wax at all times! Do not let your wax overheat above 185 degrees fahrenheit.

Bring your candle wax to 185 degrees.

Add the Fragrance

When the wax reaches 185 degrees, turn off the heat and add the fragrance.
Stir consistently for a few minutes to get the scent blended well.

Prepare the Candle Tin

Using one of the glue dots, secure the cotton wick to the bottom of the tin (or whatever container you choose to use)
Center the wick by using the bow tie clip as shown.

Secure and center the wick.

Cool and Pour the Wax

When the wax cools to about 135 degrees fahrenheit, slowly pour the wax into your container. Be careful not to overfill the container!

If you have a little leftover wax, just pour it into a small container and save it for a future project/candle.

Slowly pour the wax into the container.

Immediately clean your pitcher. Wipe off any excess wax and wash it with warm soapy water.

Finishing Your Candle

Let the candle cool overnight. Do not try to rush the cooling procedure by freezing your candle or putting it in the refrigerator. (Patience, grasshopper!)

Let your candle cool naturally. Overnight is good; a full day is better.

After your candle is cool, trim the wick to about 1/4 inch above the surface of the candle.

Trim the wick of your candle to about 1/4 inch above the wax.

Fire It Up

Your candle will be at its best if you let it sit covered for at least 3-5 days, but feel free to light your candle and enjoy the thrill of making your own candles!

Light your homemade candle and enjoy!

Get Your Kit

For this example, I used the CraftZee candle making kit from Amazon. I used one 8oz bag of wax, one-half block of the red dye and a full 1oz bottle of the Cinnamon & Vanilla fragrance. I had enough wax left over to make about a half-size candle.

Tell Me All About It

I would love to hear about your experience making your own candles… what scent and color did you love?

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Dee

Often referred to as “that long-haired computer guy”, Dee Hathaway is a government technology leader who loves figuring out how to do things better and then bragging about it on his blog. His first book Here's What Let's Do: Stop Being Average and Start Being Awesome was an Amazon #1 bestseller.