Candles!

Okay, my candle making experience started with a 40% off coupon, and a hobby lobby trip. I started with a basic candle making kit, and expanded from there. WARNING: hot wax is HOT, and it will stain clothing, so beware prior to adventuring into the candle making world.

You can get all your supplies at a basic craft store or your kitchen. You will need the following: candle mold (start with a 2oz votive) or container to put your candle in (make sure glass is free of any nicks or cracks), wicks that have been mounted on the round silver doo-dad, raw wax (I prefer paraffin, due to low melting point and its cheap), an old pot, another smaller pot-that you don't mind destroying -or you can get a wax melting pot for about $11 at a craft store(to make a double boiler system) and additional additives-color and smell of your choosing, hammer, chisel, cutting board, small ounce scale and butcher paper to protect your work surface!  

First things first, cover your entire work station with butcher paper (keep it away from heating elements and gas stoves!!), wear and old t-shirt that you don't mind destroying if by chance hot wax splatters on you! 

1. Using your hammer, chisel, and cutting board, carefully whack off about a 2-4oz piece of wax (measuring with your scale) to make an average size votive. ***if you are using a different size mold, fill it up with water, measure how much water is in the mold using your scale, and that is roughly how much wax you will need to melt to fill the mold***
2. Next fill your large pot with 2-4 inches of water, and set it to medium high, then insert the smaller pot into the larger pot and add your wax. ****If at any point your wax starts to boil take it off the heat immediately and step away until it cools, you only want the wax to get hot enough to melt completely-do not overheat!!****
3. Once the water starts to boil, turn the heat down to medium-low until the remainder of the wax has melted.
4. Dip the metal end of the wick into the melted wax and place it in the center of your mold so it sticks just enough to stay in place when you pour the wax in. 
5. Once wax is completely melted, add color to your liking and stir with a spoon you don't mind destroying ** sometimes it is very tricky to get the color you desire, hot wax is a different color that cooled wax. Test your color by taking a drop of wax and placing it on white paper and letting it dry to see the true color. 
6. Add your smelly stuff and stir--make sure the fragrance is specially made to use with wax. If you try using an essential oil, extract, or other substitute it may separate from the wax once dried--believe me I tried!
7. very carefully fill your candle mold to the top- and let cool. 

As the wax cools it will dimple funny on the top of the candle around the wick, this is normal, I personally like the way it looks because you know it was homemade!! If you don't like the way it looks, simply heat up the residual wax in your double boiler and pour an additional layer on top of your already cooled candle in its mold. 

Clean up: wipe your wax pot out with a paper towel while the wax is still warm, this makes for easy clean up and prevents color/smells transferring to your next batch of candles!

Cool things to do with wax

Create Luminaries or Recycle crayons here or here