How to Embed & Gel Candles

Embed themed objects inside gel candles to decorate your home.

Create your own decorative gel candles with suspended objects that appear to float inside the candle. Embed objects that are not flammable, such as colorful glass stones, ceramic tiles or metal trinkets, in the gel candles to customize the candles to suit your décor or to commemorate a special event. Never embed plastic or other flammable objects inside a gel candle. As the candle burns, flammable items can ignite. Look for gel candle making supplies at local craft and hobby stores.

Things You'll Need

• Glass cleaner
• Soft cloth
• Glass cylinder
• Clear candle gel
• Serrated knife
• Glass measure and pour container
• Oven
• Glue gun
• Glue sticks
• Wick
• Pencil
• Tape
• Metal spoon
• Candy thermometer
• Non-flammable decorations
• Long tweezers

Instructions

1. Clean and dry the inside of a clear glass cylinder. You can also recycle glass jars as containers for gel candles. Remove all paper or plastic advertisements from any recycled jar, prior to making the candle.

2. Slice the gel candle wax into 1-inch cubes. Place the gel cubes into a glass container with a pour spout. A dedicated glass measuring container works well for this part of the process.

3. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the glass container with the candle was inside the preheated oven. Leave the container in the oven until the candle gel is liquefied. Depending on the amount of gel, this part of the process could take up to one hour.

4. Heat the glue gun and insert a glue stick. Place a few drops of hot glue into the bottom center of the glass cylinder. Fit the metal base of the candle wick into the glue. Hold the wick in place while the hot glue hardens.

5. Tape the top of the wick to the center of a pencil; rest the pencil on top of the glass cylinder.

6. Remove the liquid gel wax from the oven. Stir it with a metal spoon. Test the temperature of the gel wax with a candy thermometer. The ideal temperature falls between 225 and 230 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the gel back into the oven, if necessary to raise the temperature. Let the gel sit on the counter if it needs to cool.

7. Pour liquid gel into the glass cylinder up to within 1 inch of the top rim. Leave some liquid gel in the melting container to coat the embeds.

8. Hold a non-flammable decoration to embed in the gel with long tweezers. Dip the embed into the liquid gel in the melting container. Still using the long tweezers, insert the embed into the gel inside the glass cylinder. Repeat this step until all of the embeds are placed into the gel as you like. Allow the gel to become firm before lighting the candle.

References

• Gel Candle Making: Embeds in Gel

Resources

• Tipnut: How to Make Gel Candles