Waxing poetic

It was about time that I try my hand at candle making again. The last time, I made some incredible tea cup candles, with roaring success. They are sitting right next to me as I write this, and still look just as awesome.

For my next candle making project, I decided to try my hand at making molded candles. As promised, this project added an increased level of difficulty for a multitude of reasons. Now that I am a few weeks in, I am stepping up my game!

First, I had to select my molds. I happened to have some clean yogurt cups which I thought would make excellent molds. Plus, they were the only thing on hand that remotely resembled the shape of a candle.

I heated up the wax on the stove using the double melting system. I headed up water to boiling and placed the heating container into the water to float on top. The wax melted relatively fast, and I added in lavender scent and purple wax coloring. I let this heat up to around 200 degrees, until I got impatient when it hit around 110.

I set up the molds while the wax was heating. I cut the wicks to the proper size and attached them to metal posts that sit at the bottom of the candle. I placed a wooden spoon on top of the mold and taped the top of the wicks onto the spoon to prevent it from slipping down into the mold. This was a ghetto substitute for the wooden stick that Martha used, but then again, most of my methods are a tad bit ghetto.

Finally, I poured the wax into the molds up to near to the top. I placed them into a rudimentary ice bath (aka a bowl of water with a few ice cubes in it). There I let them sit until they cooled.


When, inevitably, dips formed in the middle, I filled them in with some extra wax to make the candles look extra professional and fancy. It actually did the trick and was worth the annoyingness of having to heat up more wax that had hardened in the pot. I am going to cut the wicks because they're super long and then I'll be ready to go.

All in all, this was an incredible craft. They candles look cool and smell like lavender, which always relaxes me. I love making candles because for a relatively easy process and low price, they look really professional and make excellent gifts and decorative items for my apartment.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Molded Candles - Martha Stewart Crafts

Light 'em up

Today I decided to jump head first into the world of candle making. The caveat to this decision is that this is pretty much a brand new area for me. Aside from sticking my fingers in melting shabbat candle wax and making the occasional bee's wax candle as a child, the whole process of candle making to me is foreign and unfamiliar.

I decided on Martha's gorgeous teacup lights project. The craft combines two awesome things: vintage and tea. Crafted from vintage teacups and melted-down candles (I used a block of candle wax instead), the craft was simple enough.

I ordered an incredible set of three vintage teacups from impulseART at Etsy, which is my ultimate favorite website for all things vintage and handmade. The teacups were fabulous and made in England and I got them for a steal because one of them had a small chip in the lip.

The actual candle making process wasn't so intimidating after all. I took some pre-made wick-and-wick-sustainer-combinations (which you can order fairly easily) and super glued them into the base of each teacup. Then, I filled up my largest pot with water and placed a smaller pot (covered in aluminum foil to prevent the wax from getting all over everything) inside it. I put the block of clear wax in the smaller pot and put a small chip of some wax color (I used a bit of pink and a teeny tiny bit of blue). After a few minutes, the wax melted and I poured it into the awaiting teacups with the wicks in place.


It took about an hour for the wax to dry and, as Martha had promised, the center of the wax dips in as the candle dries, leaving a divot. I decided not to fix this, might I might cut into the wax later to make the top of the candle smooth; Martha suggests heating more wax and filling up the center of the candle with it, but I ran out of wax with the correct color.


I think these will make a great present! Or, just a lovely candle to spice up my boring bedroom.