Homemade Candles

Decorating a room with colored and scented candles, can lend it a different look altogether. And if they have been made by the person himself or herself, according to one's liking, nothing can match it. It's not just decorating one's house with candles which gives one an amazing feeling, but giving homemade candles to one's near and dear ones on special occasions such as anniversaries and birthdays, can make these days even more special for them. Below are some easy instructions, which you can follow to make candles of your choice.

Tips for Making Candles at Home

There are three kinds of wax, namely soy wax, paraffin wax and beeswax, which are used to make candles. You can choose either of these. I opt for paraffin wax, as they are easily available in all the grocery stores. Here is a list of all the ingredients that you will need to make candles at home.

• Paraffin Wax
• Mold
• Mold Release, either of peanut oil, silicone spray or a cooking spray oil.
• Hot Plate
• Candle Wick and Wick Cutter
• Wax carrier, preferably a double boiler.
• Scented Oils
• Wooden spoon
• Wick kit

When you are ready with all the above mentioned ingredients, choose a place in your home, where you can carry out the whole process of candle making. While choosing the place, make sure that you are comfortable. Floors are ideal for candle making, as one has to be relaxed when carrying out the whole procedure, while sitting on them. Spread a few newspapers on it beforehand, so that it does not get spoiled. Now, let's start with the step wise procedure to make candles.

Step 1
Cut the paraffin wax into a number of pieces and place it on the upper container of the double boiler. In the lower container of the double boiler, put some water. Melting the wax in a double boiler ensures that it would not catch fire. The ideal temperature to melt the wax in a double boiler is 140 degrees. Keep on stirring the melting wax with a wooden spoon till it has entirely turned into liquid.

Step 2
When the wax has melted, add all the colors and scents of your choice to the wax. Scented oils such as eucalyptus oil and pine oil are my personal favorites, you can opt for the ones that you like. Once you have added the desired color and scent, keep on stirring the wax with the wooden spoon so that everything gets assimilated properly.

Step 3
Start working on the mold side by side. Spray its inner walls with mold release, so that when the candle is removed from the mold, it does not get broken or out of shape.

Step 4
Pour the melted wax from the double boiler, into the molds. Make sure that you leave a space of one inch from the top in the molds, and do not fill them completely, while doing that.

Step 5
Before the wax starts hardening, the wick should be inserted. A simple way to do that is to take a pencil and tie one part of the wick to its middle. Then insert the other end of the wick into the wax, letting the pencil stay on top of the mold. This will leave an appropriate length of the wick to stay on top of the wax.

Step 6
Keep the wax overnight, till it completely hardens. In the morning, take out the candles from the mold, by inverting it upside down.

As you can see from above, candles are pretty easy to make. Once they are ready, you can decorate them with flowers, stick some glitter on them or simply place them in a tray or a candle stand, and brighten up your entire house with their light and glow.