Each week I try to set myself a "creative challenge", sometimes this is something I do quite often with a twist (like practicising music, but creating my own ending)... and sometimes, I try something new. This week, I set myself the challenge of creating scented multi-coloured candles. I was quite impressed with myself, and thought I would share what I did!
Tools you will need:
- an old saucepan
- scented oils (my favourites are lavender, strawberry and geranium!!)
- wax - I use a mix of both soy wax and bees wax, I have found bee has a longer burn time whilst soy is MUCH easier to colour
- dye chips (I purchased mine of eBay) or colour crayons
- sticky dots
- wick - I use 3mm braided wick, available at most craft stores, however I surprisingly buy from my favourite organic store!
- wick holders - paddle pop sticks with holes placed in them, or household pegs.
- Heat safe molds - if you hold a naked flame to the side of your mold and it warps in any way DO NOT USE!! I found small old takeaway containers, picnic cups and old candle holders were the safest in my home.. this may not be the same for you! EBay and Etsy both appeared to have a wide variety of molds for sale, however I'd rather use what I can at home and spend more money for more wax
Step One
Slowly melt the wax in the saucepan over a low heat.
Step Two
Add approximately one inch of coloured crayon to melted wax, still sitting on low heat. You will need to mix this quite thoroughly - I tried to take a photo to show what can happen if you don't do this, but I struggled to be honest. I used crayons for nearly all my colours (two were a mix of crayons + dye), and I noticed that these tend to melt across the bottom of the pan and naturally want to sink to the bottom underneath the wax.
Step Three
Take saucepan off heat and add 7-10 drops of scented oils. I like to mix 5 drops of lavender, 3 of strawberry and 2 musk as a delicious mix.
Step Four
Place wick into the centre of your safe mold, and use a sticky dot to secure in place. Alternative you can use place a very small amount of wax at the base to secure in place. Place your wick holder so that the wick sits directly in the middle of the mold, however let it sit a little loosely - I have found that making it taut made the wick come loose from the bottom once the wax is poured.
Step Five
By now your wax should have cooled a little, although still warm to the touch. Pour wax into your mold. For different layering effects you can angle your mold, so you can have different layers as it cools.
Step Six
Leave to sit for 10 - 30minutes (I found this varied greatly depending on time of day and weather to how quickly the wax would set). If mixing colours, repeat steps 1, 2, 3 and 5 until you mold is full with the colours you wish. Do not leave too long between leaving layers to set as this may cause you layers to not stick to each other - this in turn to could result in nasty accidents when burning the candle.
Step Seven
Enjoy your handy work!!
Lots of Love,
Chantal
