Do you love the soft light and aromatic fragrance of candles, but hate to watch your paycheck going up in flames? Learn to make your own decorative, scented candles at a fraction of the price you pay in stores. Find out about waxes and molds, adding scent and color, layering, adding decorative accents like candies or potpourri, and get sources for supplies. You’ll leave class with about a dozen beautiful, high quality candles and the knowledge to make more at home. Create gifts for any occasion or maybe even start your own candle business! *$20 material fee payable to the instructor.

Similar to traditional wax candles, clear gel candles are commonly produced from a hydrocarbon base stock. The use of a gelled hydrocarbon base stock provides the additional advantage of transparency. Candlewic sells and markets a series of patented gels (US Patent 5,879,694) for use in the manufacture of clear gel candles under Versagel™: brand names. Candle gel from Candlewic may be purchased in 35-pound plastic pails or 360-pound drums.

Candles made with gel perform much differently than those made with paraffin. Please review safety factor sheet before use. Testing for proper wick size is strongly recommended. Working temperature for this product is much higher than for paraffin wax. All applicable safety procedures should be maintained. Burning temperatures for this product are also higher than for paraffin wax. All applicable safety procedures should be considered. All manufactures of gel candles should consider using wick assemblies with a neck height of at least 6mm in order to firmly hold the wick in place and keep the flame from reaching the very bottom of the candle container.

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Floating candles are convex shaped on the bottom and small and shallow enough that they float in water.

The true beauty of floating candles really comes out with the choice of the vessel. A large cylindrical, lightly shaded vase with several different coloured floating candles will light up a room with all the luminescent colours dancing on the ceiling and walls.

Floating candles are available in a huge variety of shapes. Things like flowers and hearts placed in a bowl in the centre of a dining table can add extra romance to that candlelit dinner.

Christmas candles that float are also popular, with shapes like candies, gingerbread men and snowflakes.

Wax Creative with Easy Candle Craft
Make Candles the simple, safe, fun and fast way! No more pots, pans and double boiler systems to contend with - now all you need is the Candle Creations Candle Machine.

The Candle Creations Candle Machine lets you recycle leftover wax from existing candles or use new wax - it's your choice. The Candle Maker comes with 1 lb (453g.) of Candle Creations colored granulated premium quality candle wax and a 6" polycarbonate mold to get you started making candles right out of the box! Just secure your mold in the mold holder, add wax to the machine, close the locking lid, plug in the Candle Maker, turn the knob and you're on the way to foolproof candle making.

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Wax formulas or recipes as they are sometimes called can be quite confusing to beginners. In this article I will explain various ingredients and offer wax formulas I have had success with for making container candles.

PLEASE NOTE!! - Candle making can be dangerous if proper safety procedures are not followed. Please read these Safety Rules before attempting any candle making projects.

This article assumes basic candle making skills. If you are new to candle making, my Introduction To Candle Making Online Course is free and will show you all the basics for working with wax safely.

What Is A Container Candle?

Any candle in a self contained holder can be considered a container candle. The vast majority are made in glass, however other materials are sometimes used such as metal or terra cotta. The important thing is that the container be a non flammable material and not prone to leaking hot wax.

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Scented candles that don't smell when you burn them is a common problem among candle makers. The following explanations will help diagnose and fix scent throw problems. Note that often scent throw problems are caused by a combination of factors. Optimize your scent throw by following all of the following guidelines.

Solid Scents
We have yet to try a solid candle scent that actually works well. Hobbyist grade solid scent blocks are so weak that if you made a candle using nothing but scent blocks, the resulting candle would not throw scent.

Prevention - Use scent oil.

Testing Scent Throw
Making candles desensitizes your nose, and you will not be able to properly evaluate scent throw too soon after making candles (it varies from person to person, but we find it takes about 5 - 7 days to smell normally after making candles).

Prevention - You should always have someone who was not around when you made the candles evaluate the scent throw.

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Plan ahead for easy clean - up
If you pour 1/4" of water into the bottom of a votive candle holder, the melted wax from the burned candle won't stick to the glass. The candle, and the melted wax, will be easy to pull out and replace.

Yes, it's possible!
A candle maker wrote me recently asking if the same natural colorants used in soap making could be used in candles.
Hmmmm. I had to think. Even though "natural" candles are very popular these days, I had never heard of anyone using any natural colorants in candles. I know that pigments and other "dispersed" colors like micas and oxides don't work well in candles because they clog the wick. But I wasn't sure about an "infused" color. You can make an herbal oil infusion for soap making - and soy wax is just modified soy bean oil - so I decided to try it!

I started by taking eight jelly jars and putting them in a water bath in my crock pot. I filled each jar with about 6 ounces of soy container wax.
(For additional step-by-step photos of the entire process, view the Natural Colors in Candles Gallery.)
I put a bit of the herb I wanted to infuse into a coffee filter and tied it with a twist tie. The herbs I used were:
comfrey - 1 tsp.
rose hips powder - 1 tsp.
peppermint - 1 tsp.
lavender - 2 tsp.
madder root powder - 1/2 tsp
alkanet root powder - 1/2 tsp.
annatto seeds - 1/2 tsp.
spirulina powder - 1/2 tsp.
I dropped the herb-filled coffee filters into the jars, turned the heat on low and let them steep/brew for about 24 hours.

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I love burning candles and have them all around the house. Long ones, short ones, fat ones, thin ones, in a plethora of colours. I burn them in the evening when I'm relaxing; I burn them at mealtimes; and I burn them in the bathroom when I'm pampering myself. Any excuse to light a candle really.

But candles don't always fit the holder, and sometimes they burn down too far and the wax gets stuck! It's at times like this that candles aren't quite as much fun!

Here are some candle burning tips I've picked up through the years:

1. Cold candles will burn more slowly. Wrap them in foil or cling-film to prevent the wicks from absorbing moisture then pop them in the fridge for an hour.

2. When burning pillar candles, let them burn long enough each time to create a pool of wax that almost covers the diameter of the candle. This will ensure that the candle burns evenly each time you light it. If it doesn't create a large enough pool you'll end up with a tunnel through the candle and eventually it will either melt through one side or you'll simply not be able to get down far enough to light it. And even if you did, it would give off very little light.

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A friend of mine named Charlene, who runs an aromatherapy course in Lincoln, Nebraska, told me a story about a young man who had just joined the course and was raring to go because he had read so much about aromatherapy. It was Charlene’s practice to light an aromatherapy candle at the beginning of every session and ask the participants what the fragrance reminded them of. As it happened, she was using a lavender candle and asked the young man what he could smell. He took a deep breath, and with a look of great disappointment on his face, said, “Room freshener!”

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