Hanmade in Cornwall

Hanmade in Cornwall

Wednesday 11 December 2013

Hanmade candles

'tis the season to light lots of candles! I tend to make candles at this time of year. After collecting jars and containers I get metling!
Lots of people have asked me recently how I make them, so I thought I would share my tips here with you!
 
 Gather your eqipment together: empty jars or moulds. If your using moulds cover the inside with washing up liquid, this makes it easy to get the candle out when you have finished! a stirer, wicks, thin sticks (I now use skewers) I also cover my work surface in foil so I can just put it in the bin once the project is finished.
 Also you need blue tac and wax. I had alot of leftover wax from previous candles, which is what I used here.
 Start by putting a small pan inside a bigger pan that has water in. Add your wax and get melting. Just be careful of not getting any water into the wax pot.
 Before you add any wax, put your wick inside your container. Attach it to the stick with the blue tac at the top. Keep it there until the project is done. This keeps the wick in place and means it won't sag near the top onto the drying wax.
Then start to add your wax. Add a bit at a time....
 Once you have put your first lot in, let it cool down, this is where your wood stick comes in. Push the stick through the wax all the way to the bottom. Do it all over the top of the wax paying particular attention to the area around the wick. This is so that any air bubbles come out of the holes. Then you can top it up with some more wax. Repeat this process one or two times. You will then get a complete smooth top and no holes in the wax once its dried. I hope that makes sense!
 You can see above the red candle has had layers put in to let the air bubbles out but you cant notice now that its all cooled. The other one I wanted different colours.
Dont forget to keep the wick attached to the stick.
let it cool and dry over night, at least.
Then trim the wick down.
 And tada! thats it.
This was a jar my daughter decorated last Christmas. Now its got more life in it!
This is so easy, give it a go and have fun!

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