How to Make Numbered Birthday Candles

With a little time, a good work space and a few supplies, you can create a personalized candle for any occasion. Although making numbered birthday candles may look difficult due to the specific shapes, you can customize your own molds and create homemade candles in any color of your choosing, scented or unscented.

Things You'll Need

• Cardboard
• Tape
• Foil
• Knife
• Wick
• Cookie sheet
• Crock-Pot
• Wax
• Candy thermometer
• Color
• Scents
• Ladle

Instructions

Molds

1. Use old toilet paper or paper towel rolls for cardboard, and cut and shape them into the number you want for your candle. Use tape as needed to secure the cardboard together. You can use anything for a mold as long as it will hold the wax as it dries and keep the wax from leaking. Metal cans also work well.

2. Cover the entire cardboard number with aluminum foil. This can be tricky because any imperfections on the surface of the foil will show up on the finished candle. So smooth the foil as much as possible. However, if you do not want any imperfections, order molds from a candle supply store.

3. Make sure your mold has a bottom. After making the shape for your number, create a bottom for the shape using the cardboard and foil so that the wax does not seep out from under the mold. Secure the outside seams of the mold with sturdy tape.

4. Make a small puncture down into the top of the number mold, and insert the wick through the hole. Make sure that the wick goes all the way to the bottom of the number and that there is an ample amount of the wick protruding from the top. You can cut this shorter after the candle has set.

5. Lay your mold on a cookie sheet.

Wax

1. Determine the amount of wax you'll need based on the number of candles you are making, and add that amount of wax to the Crock-Pot. Turn on the Crock-Pot to a high setting.

2. Place a candy thermometer in the wax so you can monitor the temperature. The wax will melt at 150 degrees.

3. Allow the wax to reach 180 degrees. At this temperature, the wax should be completely melted.

4. Add color and scents to the wax as desired and stir.

5. Use the ladle to pour the wax into your mold, making sure that you fill the mold completely. Turn off the Crock-Pot.

Setting

1. Allow the candle to completely cool. It must be cool to the touch without any heat before you can remove it from the mold. You can also place the candle mold in the freezer to let it cool quicker.

2. Turn the mold upside down, and tap it on a hard surface to release the candle.

3. Carefully use a sharp knife to perfect any sides or shapes on the candle where you see unwanted imperfections.

Tips & Warnings

• Pay close attention to wax temperature when melting the wax. Wax can reach a flash point and start a fire. Different wax types have different flash points; be sure you know the temperatures not to exceed when melting your wax.

References

• Candle Making