If you’ve been feeling the winter blues lately and want a simple way to cheer up any space in your home, make a candle. They create a great ambience and can emit a nice scent of your choosing. Candles are easy and inexpensive to make, and are a perfect detail to add some romance for Valentines day as well. If you enjoy making candles you can even make them for birthday presents and decorate the containers with personalized goodies. Below is a guide to make colorful crayon candles and a basic soy scented candle.
Colorful Crayon Candles
You will need:
-10-15 crayons
-A wick
-Heat-safe container you can throw away after the project
-A container of your choosing
-Non-Stick Cooking Spray
-Ice Water
1. First you will need to unwrap 10-15 crayons. (Tip: Soak Crayons in ice water and let it sit for 5 minutes. This will make the wrappers slide off.)
2. Grab a microwaveable bowl that you can throw out after this project and put your crayons into the bowl, pop them into the microwave for 2 minutes at a time until all the crayons are sufficiently melted.
3. Choose a container for your candle to be in. You can use a mason jar, a shot glass, a cookie cutter, anything really. Before you pour your crayons in be sure to spray the inside of the container with non-stick cooking spray.
4. Add the wick. Depending on what container you used you will need different length wicks. Measure the wick by placing it in the jar before you pour in the melted crayons. Make sure about a half inch to an inch will remain above the top of the mixture when you pour it into your jar.
5. Hold your wick in the center of the container, make sure your wick touches the bottom of the jar and begin to slowly pour in your melted crayons. Make sure the wick sticks out enough to light it, but trim it if the wick is too long because then your flame will be all over the place.
6. Let this candle sit for an hour and enjoy!
Some extra suggestions:
Paint a mason jar before you add your mixture, if you paint a whole jar with glitter it will shine beautifully in a dark room.
Glue lace to the outside of your candle jar for a pretty shadow glow.
Color Block Candles: Pour different colors into a shot glass then pour them one by one (allowing each one to dry before adding the next) to create a colorful stacked candle.
Scented Soy Candle:
You will need:
-2 pounds of Soy candle Wax (online or Target)
-Fragrance choose a Fragrance Oil (if it looks like household oil ask if it is ok to be burned)
-Wicks (any craft store)
-Heat-safe container that you can throw away after the project
-Whatever container you would like to put your candle in after.
1. Melt one cup of wax flakes for 2 minutes and keep going until it melts smoothly.
2. Add 8-10 drops of your fragrance oil to the melted mixture
3. Pour a small amount of wax in the container and set the wick into it. Let it dry a little before pouring the next batch while holding the wick up.
4. Let it sit and enjoy!
For general guidelines I used Instructables.com and FindingHomeOnline.com. And, of course, Pinterest is stocked full of creative and easy, DIY instructions for candles (or really anything else).