I was just wondering if anyone else makes candles? i have been making candles for over a year and love it, it's also great gifts because you can't buy them at a store!
It also doesn't take a lot of time to make candles, I usually clean my kitchen while I'm melting the wax, great way to multi-task!

Sorry, I mistyped the title! I meant "candle making"!

I have made candles in the past, but not recently. My step-daughters are interested and they both have gift card to michaels so I was thinking that it would be a great christmas gift project for us to do this year.

HOLY KOOGAMOOGA!

I love the website http://www.lonestarcandlesupply.com/ and they have awesome stuff!
I do like to get the wax at Michael's because shipping it would cost a lot!

Cleaning while I make the candles isn't that bad, I just don't have patience to wait for the wax to melt so I have to keep busy.

Anyone make soy wax candles? Better for the air. Not a petroleum by product. I have no idea how available the wax is though.

I used to make candles years ago too and put them in the old mason jars, with some rafia and gingham cloth, very pretty as gifts!

I want to try soy candles but the wax is a lot more expensive so I just stick with the regular wax. Maybe when I get some extra cash I'll get some soy wax.
Just getting a pretty mold is $20+ at every place I have looked but it's worth it in the end

That website is great! I would love to be able to make my own candles but thought it was a lot harder than that.

Two fun candles to make easily are Ice Cube candles and also Sand Candles.

For the Ice Cube candles you will need

An emptied milk carton, quart size
melted wax
wick for length of carton
ice cubes
whatever colors and scents you want to add.

Simply cut the pointed top off the carton so that it is even all the way around.

Add wick, which you can tie to a pencil and place across the top of the carton.

Fill carton with ice cubes.

Pour in melted wax.

Allow to set.

Working over a sink, peel the carton away from the candle, letting all the melted ice cube water pour out.

Stand candle to dry completely.

You will have a tall candle with neat holes and grooves throughout, wherever the cubes prevented the wax from flowing. Each one turns out differently, of course and they all look so pretty when lit!

For the Sand Candle, you need:

A sturdy small box or plastic basin filled with sand.
Melted wax
wicks


Pack the sand firmly into the box or basin.
In the center, scoop out sand to make the shape you want, remembering that the candle will end up wider all the way around the shape by about an inch.

Don't dig down too far as you will want a good bottom of sand for your mold.

If you want you candle bowl to have "legs", use your fingers to poke down three or four holes, trying to get them of fairly even depth.

Plce wicks. Depending on the size of your candle bowl, you can add up to three wicks scattered about.

Pour melted wax.

Allow to set thoroughly!

Then, simply dig out the entire candle. You will see that some of the melted wax mixed with the sand all around the outside perimeter, making a very solid wall. If you didn't place the wicks too close to the wall, the wall will not melt as the candle burns. And later, you can refill the bowl with more wicks and wax.

If the "legs" you made are uneven, you can carefully carve them down with a sharp paring knife.

A nice feature of this candle also is that if you place items firmly into the sides of the hole before you fill it with wax, you can embed shells or bits of driftwood or pretty stones right into the candle.

Very easy to do!

Merme

I always wanted to try that! that is a neat thing to make:-)someday I will try, is it expensive?

I was going too... I seen the wax was 32 bucks and said forget it!!!

I never heard of the ice cube type. Cool Merme Thanks.

Wax is either more or less expensive, according to type.

I avoid the really expensive kind... such as soy and beeswax.

Just purchase regular household wax -- you can make great candles and add your own colors and scents or leave them plain.

In my opinion, $32 is outrageous for wax. Good for you for NOT buying it, Rita.

'course, there are some "purists" who will tell you that you can ONLY use thus or so for candle making. I just chuckle. Try telling THAT to the millions of housewives who made candles out of deer fat back in the day!

Merme

I order from here most of the time,plus they have regular monthly sales that you know month by month.

http://www.cierracandles.com/

I started out with one of their starter kits that included a mold and then bought 4 molds one month when we're on sale.I've also done some in mason jars/old candle jars.I made a mistake one month and bought wicks with wire& prefer them now.very easy& have those sticker tabs for holding in place.I'll buy those triple wicked round candles when walmart puts on clearance and make a bunch of newer ones.I love black cherry and punkin pie or apple on sale like that.I did a powder blue one once too,but changed the color to darker color.

I'll pour leftover wax in coffee cans to store& have poured smaller left over amounts on pinecones for firestarters...smells good too(plus gavce sis a surprise one year...labled a batch new years starters and added a lil blackjack in it....had to laugh....made her spill her drink that year) I did the sand candle one before.I thought of doing another that way with shells.I'll have to try it out now. I like blending scenats too.I love my apple mango.And I don't really like the smell of apples!

Njoynit ~

I also save all my candle stubs and leftover bits of wax to make fire starters each year.

But we fill those paper cups used for cupcakes with sawdust, then pour the melted wax over the sawdust. When they dry, the person only has to sit the firestarter on top of the kindling and light the edge of the paper cup. They work really well too, and folks like getting them as gifts.

I've never tried firestarters made out of pinecones, but I like the idea!

Merme

thanks for clearing up the price thing Merme.. I might have to go look again and try to find a better price!!

It just really annoys me to see how over-priced many simply made things are in the stores.

If you'd like to make a gift to someone who loves apples and cinnamon, make a special candle by adding the long cinnamon sticks to the sides of the mold and several of those dried apple slices that were cut to the right(whole apple) shape BEFORE you pour the wax. You can do this yourself at a very low cost and yet I've seen ready-mades that would ruin a budget! And for what? An ordinary candle with a few cinnamon sticks and dried apple slices added. Ridiculous.

You can customize your candles in endless ways. And it is a good project for kids to help with. Notice I said HELP rather than do?

We always retrieved our broken crayons when Mom was making candles, and we let our kids do the same. You can break them into pieces and melt them right along with the wax. Either mix them thoroughly for a stable color or just "swirl" them in for streaks. Kids love to help with these projects AND give the candle "they" made as gifts.

When I was younger and had LOTS more patience than I do now, I used to make candles inside of walnut shells I split in half. Once made, I would glue them to a nice thick stick that perhaps had a curve in it and would lay flat or driftwood and decorate it. They were very pretty and folks loved getting them.

Merme

Merme Very Good Point! I would never think of crayons.. There are TONS of options if you think about it HUH!!
I found some old fashion canning jars that would make pretty candles.. The kind with the clamp down snap on glass lids..

Rita you could add candles to your craft bazaar table.

I've done crayons.they stain the plastic molds,but my black candle turned out gray....maybe needed MORE crayons.

Hubby was kind enough to melt my ghost candle last nite....all over the floor& tile.a nice lil mess for me to clean up.He'd already broke an arm.I went to a craftworkshop in gatlinburg TN.It was doing candle carveings.you do a regular(I did hex) then dip in another color wax& while its warm do carveings.I had arms(a section of hex sides split)and face features(scaple them out,basically remove the color added when dipping)and had even carved the word'boo' on bottom.it was neat the light would show though. Hubbys lesson???candles still melt when not lited when you turn gas up on logs.
I woke up at 2 am when heard candle make thud as it hit the floor.I didn't find the noise.......but at 4 am hubby did.He stepped in wax (I should have him a sign made............He asked why I didn't see it on floor....GEEE wonder why HE didn't see it on the floor.I asked....he didn't answer) least I'll smile all day thnking about it.

Dipping candles is another technique that is well worth trying but be prepared: IT TAKES ABOUT FOREVER!

This is how tapers were made in the days when every household used them for standard lighting.

The woman would have a wooden rod in a handy length, say 8 to 16 inches wide and strong enough to hold several candles at once.

Then she'd tie the lengths of wick onto the rod and dip them all at the same time into the melted wax. Once dipped, the rod would be placed so that each end would be held by a support and the wicks could hang free to dry. When dried, the rod of wicks would be dipped again. Dried again. Dipped again. And so on.

Well, I tried it for myself and learned a few things.

A dowel rod works just fine for the wicks to be tied onto. The only consideration was length. I did not have a big enough pot dedicated to melted wax to have a rod that was very long, so I could only dip six wicks at a time.

Second lesson was: If the wax is too hot, the second time you dip the wicks, the hot wax in the pot will MELT the previous layer of dipped and dried wax, totally defeating your endeavor.

So the wax must be kept on a lower temperature than what we usually want for pouring; almost translucent rather than transparent.

Third lesson: This method is TIME CONSUMING! So it was no wonder women would do it as they did, preparing many rods of some good length and doing perhaps a total of 100 candles at once. In that manner, by the time they got to the end of the rods that needed dipped, the first rods would be dry and ready for the next dipping.

The Fourth lesson: dipping does not leave a flat bottom on the taper! It either needs to be shaped later OR placed in a holder that will hold it securely with a rounded bottom.

And, as Njoynit pointed out, dipping in multiple colors is fun but for a candle that is made entirely of dipping, that is a rather ambitious project!!

Merme

Oh, I forgot: another method is ROLLED candles!

Now this is for those of you who wouldn't mind spending some money on the sheets of beeswax required. It can be fairly pricey, but for a special gift for a special someone, it might be worthwhile.

Beeswax is sold in rectangular sheets that have a honeycomb appearance. You simply spread the sheet out flat and cut a diagonal line from one top corner to the opposite bottom corner. This will give you two candles per sheet.

Taking the cut triangle, you place the wick along the tallest edge and simply roll the wax around it, nice and tightly, to the smallest edge. When you are through, the bottom of the candle will be flat and it will be taller in the middle and wider and shorter as it goes to the bottom.

Then you simply seal the loose edge by gently melting the inside a bit and it will adhere.

These are pretty, unusual, but are pricey to make!

Merme

Me and the girls made it out to the craft store today and bought all kinds of candle making supplies. They decided they wanted to learn how to make candles and they want to give them as gifts. To make it simple for their first time, we got a bunch of different shaped votive sized glass jars and we will be filling those with all sorts of different colors and scents. We plan on making them tomorrow and I'm sure they will want me to post pics.

Oh yes, you have to post pics. What fun that is going to be!

Wow, I am going to try all of these suggestions! The ice method sounds really neat.

One time I was letting my candles cool off and my boyfriend tried to straighten one of my wicks and he ended up loosening the bottom of the mold and all the wax went down the sink. That was NOT fun, it made a horrible mess and we had to take the pipes out to get the wax. It taught him to never mess with my candles again!
But other than that, candle making is really fun for me!

Sarah, I forgot to ask you what scent you used for the candles you sent me. They smell really nice but I can't quite place it.

We like to make candles too - but we use soy, beeswax and bayberry because the regular paraffin wax (a petroleum byproduct) is not good for my decrepit lungs.
If you are using glass molds, ie votives, WARM them on a cookie sheet in the oven - less chance of the hot wax hitting cold glass causing breakage. it also makes a better looking candle.

Me and the girls finally got to do our candle making today. They were very proud of themselves and wanted me to share some pics with all of you. They will be giving these as christmas gifts this year.

Those candles look awesome! They did a really good job, and the colors are great! They'll make great gifts. I gave one to my grandma and she was so happy with it.
As for the scent of the candles I gave you, I didn't write it down so I don't know, I'm sorry! That has taught me to start writing them down. I racked my brain and can't remember. Sorry!

That's okay, they still smell really good.

Cher, those are beautiful!!! You and the girls did a wonderful job!

OMGosh, I wanna try some with my kids now! They are beautiful, Cher!

The girls had a great time doing it. Deciding who would get what color and what scent. Most of the colors don't match the scent, we've got some green cinnamon and blue rasberry, or fushia lavender, but that's okay, the important thing is they had fun. I even let them pour the wax so they would feel like they really did it themselves. It was a bit time consuming, but a lot of fun. They're going to give some to their dad, grandparents, and they even each made a candle for their teacher. They want to do it again sometime. I told them maybe next time we can do some molds.