Candles

I'm a very easy person to buy a gift for. If I get candle(s) and/or bath products (bubble bath, salt scrub, fragrant soap, etc) I'm a happy camper.

Since we go through so many candles (we light at least one almost every day!) I recently began toying with the idea of making my own. It can't be that hard, right?

Right!

Now I'm not talking about making my own candles totally from scratch. That sounds too difficult. Although I do have a small piece of honeycomb I saved in the big garage from one of our passing bee swarms. No, I mean buying the stuff from the craft store and going about it that way.

I had saved and cleaned a couple of glasses from some other candles that I bought at a discount store. I used those as my forms. And the good thing is when that candle burns down I'll be able to reuse the glass. How frugal of me!

I went to Michaels and bought a 2 pound block of wax, six feet of medium thickness wicking, and just for fun a small block of spice scent.

Since I seem to have trouble with instructions I carefully read and reread the instructions on the wax package. I didn't know how much the glass would take so I guesstimated and broke off about a 1/4 pound chunk. I placed it in a glass bowl and made a makeshift double boiler by placing the bowl over a pot of gently boiling water.

Eventually all the wax melted. That's when I put in a chunk of the scented wax and stirred until it was melted and mixed in. I chose not to make the candle colored because I find the white candles give off more light.

I got my wick ready by putting a small blob on the end and securing it to the bottom of the glass, like we used to secure taper candles in a dish. Then I carefully measured the wick so there would be enough to secure with a bit of scotch tape to a stick placed across the top.

The melted wax was poured into the glass jar. The instructions said to reserve a bit to fill in the top. I didn't know what they meant by that so I just poured it all in. Besides, I reasoned I could always get another hunk of wax and melt it if I needed to, and the jar wasn't totally filled yet.

As the candle cooled and the wax solidified I was surprised to see the center area around the wick begin to sink. This must be what they were talking about.

I let the candle cool completely. The next day I took another small piece of wax and repeated the melting process, only without the scent. This time my guesstimate was right on and the wax filled the jar to the top. Perfect!

Here it is on the windowsill right after I refilled it. Yes, next to it is an avacodo seed I started a while ago.

Here the second fill is completely cooled. Yay! No more sink holes.

The wick is trimmed.
Time to light my homemade candle.

It burns beautifully! I actually prefer candles in glass because they tend to burn evenly, unlike the unjarred one.

To compare the price of making my candle vs buying the same size I'd say I can make three for about the same price as buying two sharply discounted glass container candles.

The way we go through candles that means I'll be making more, for sure!