Monday, July 25, 2011

{ DIY :: make your own candle }





a couple of weeks ago, i spotted a lovely amber vintage glass for 50 cents at a garage sale & i instantly thought it would be the perfect vessel for a homemade candle. so that's what it became. and it was much simpler (and quicker) than you may think. it was just the pick-me-up i needed.



















WHAT YOU'LL NEED ::

♥  some kind of vessel.
♥  wax (i used microwaveable soy wax from michael's. don't forget your coupon!)
♥  a candle wick (also bought at michael's. they came in a package of 5 or 6)
♥  candle scent or dye (optional; i used a small amount of vanilla scent)
♥  microwaveable container
♥  hot glue gun
♥  thermometer (i bought a candlemaking one, only because we had no kind of thermometer in our house. you can use a regular one.)

DIRECTIONS ::

1.  clean your vessel & dry thoroughly.
2.  place wick at the center of the vessel & glue the base down with  a dab of hot glue.

3.  heat wax (along with dye & scent) according to package instructions. for me, the heating time ended up being a couple minutes longer than the directions read. this is when you'll need your thermometer - temperature is important.
* note :: i didn't end up using enough wax the first time around. so i did this process twice, waiting for the wax to set in the glass before adding the second batch. i ended up using just over 1/2 the bag in total.
* warning :: do not be deceived by its while-chocolate-like appearance.

4. pour the wax into vessel and let sit until wax is cool & solid.
*note :: my wick would not set up straight, so i used a piece of tape to hold it.

5. cut wick down to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

and voila, you have your very own homemade candle. easy, right? and makes a great gift. let me know if you try it!

11 comments:

ilene @ muchloveilly said...

pretty pictures and looks like this is an easy DIY!

btw love your new blog design, megan!!! so pretty!!

katie [the bright life] said...

Love how simple this is!! We're down to one income this year, so this is looking like a great gift possibility! :) Xo, Katie

Emma Litton said...

Oh, what a great DIY. I'll have to try it sometime soon!

xo,
Em

Unknown said...

What a great idea! Love this DIY

Kelly said...

fun! I haven't made candles in forever, and how awesome is it that now they have soy wax available at Michael's? I may have to try it again! Thanks for sharing this!

Beth @ The Goad Abode said...

So fun! I've never tried to make a candle before...but now I have a reason to look for the perfect 'vessel' and try it out :)
PS- love a Michael's sale/coupon & hit up a great one on Sunday!

Anna Elder said...

i always making candles would be hard and messy. i was obvi very wrong!! super cute.

jozen said...

ooohhh! definitely adding this to my "to do" list!

thanks :)

Unknown said...

I can't wait to try this! Did you get your fragrance at Michael's too?

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh!! I want to try this. I want to make like 15 pumpkin spice scented candles right now.

knitwych said...

It's important to use wax designed for container candles, especially when using glass as containers. Wax designed for other uses (tapers, pillars, etc.) takes longer to melt, thus leading to heat build-up, thus leading to shattered glass. VERY dangerous. I love the idea of using vintage containers for candles, but I would be extremely careful, as you have no idea what temperature the glass can withstand.