This Valentine’s Day, consider making handcrafted presents for your loved ones. I know that this is a month out, but it’s never too late to think about homemade crafts as gifts. Homemade crafts is a pretty soothing activity in my opinion- especially when you learn to take your time. (See my Pinterest board for Homemade below!)
For this craft, it is best to go with natural waxes such as soy, beeswax and even coconut wax. When you choose your wicks from the craft store, or online, be sure to choose coreless wicks. Generally speaking, candles bought at the store have zinc or copper (or some other metal) core in their wicks and that is not good for your health! Instead, choose cotton rope or even beeswax wicks- anything where the label says coreless.
I hope you enjoy making these candles and presenting them to your loved ones…or keeping them for yourself!
Craft Shopping List
- 14 oz of soy wax chips
- ½ oz of fragrance or essential oil, I used lavender
- Wicks
- Pouring Pot
- Thermometer
- Covered work surface
- Wick centering plates (not pictured)
- 2-4 Containers
Pictured in this article are candle jars that I purchased at our local craft store, but you can use just about anything for candle containers! You can use mason jars, teacups, old jars, orange or lemon rinds, seashells, old mugs- even toilet paper rolls to create votive candles!
Directions
- Cut off the top of the bag of soy wax chips and pour them into the pouring pot.
- Insert the pouring pot into a tall pot of boiling water.
- Stir occasionally and wait until the wax chips have fully melted. This takes less than five minutes for a 14 oz bag!
- While you’re waiting for the wax to melt, arrange the containers and the wicks on a covered surface. This will prevent your kitchen counters or table from getting ruined or overheated. Tip: Use wick centering plates to keep your wicks from moving around after you have poured the melted wax into the containers. You could also use clothespins, or metal hair clips of the same length. Anything that keeps the wick from floating around once you pour the wax.
- Once the wax is melted, add your ½ oz of fragrance and stir. You can also add color chips or food coloring.
- Remove the pouring pot from the boiling water and begin pouring the wax into your containers.
- Alternatively, you can purchase an entire candle making kit from your local craft store, or online. It will come with enough wicks, containers, fragrance and wax to make a couple candles.
- When I made these candles for Christmas, I purchased a blend of my craft supplies and a kit. This craft will make 2-4 short candles (as pictured).
