How to Make Home-Baked Candles

When baking your own candles, you decide the scent and color.

Stop spending a fortune buying candles in the store when creating your own at home is an easy task. The gel wax sitting on the shelf at the local craft store may look like nothing, but with some time and know-how, you can turn it into a beautiful candle you'll be proud to display in your home. With some careful planning, designing your own candle, its color and scent is achievable in an afternoon. If you want to get your creative juices flowing, make your own home-baked candles.

Things You'll Need

• Candy thermometer
• Colorant
• Fragrance
• Glass jar
• Pre-tabbed wick specifically for gel candles
• Wooden skewer
• Candle mold

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Put the desired amount of gel wax in a glass container and place in the oven to melt. This takes about an hour, as gel wax melts slower than paraffin. Remove from oven, stir and check with the candy thermometer that the temperature is 225 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Add a candle fragrance, found at any local craft store, to the wax, if desired, once it is melted. Blend 1/2 ounce of fragrance oil per pound of wax. Mix the fragrance well so there are no oil pockets, which can cause the candle to burst into flames.

4. Add color, found at any local craft store, to your wax after the fragrance has blended in. Add it slowly and in small amounts before the wax cools. The wax should not be cooler than 200 degrees during this step.

5. Place the wick in the center of the container you will put your candle in. To keep it standing upright, tie the top of the extra wick around a wooden skewer. Lay the wooden skewer across the top of the jar. This keeps the wick from moving when the wax is poured.

6. Pour into the container being used to form the candle. The wax should not be cooler than 185 degrees during this step.

7. Cool the wax for about six hours. Trim the wick to 1/4 inch.

Tips & Warnings

• To help keep the wick centered, use extra wax to stick it to the bottom of the jar.

• When melting the wax, don't let the temperature get above 230 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Fragrance added to gel candles should be specifically for gel candles.

• Don't use hot glue to stick the wick to the jar when using gel candle wax, because it can cause cloudiness.

References

• Tip Nut: How to Make Gel Candles
• Savvy Homemade: Homemade Gel Candle Making Basics

Resources

• Pioneer Thinking: The Right Wax
• "The Ultimate Gel Candle Book"; Marcianne Miller; 2003