DIY Candles!!

Hey everyone! I don't know about all of you, but I know that when one of my favorite candles burns out completely I am devastated! I love burning candles! I just feel that the look and the smell make everything so much better! Once a candle burns out I always make sure to save the wax. I collected wax for about two years with the anticipation of making my own candles out of it.

This was the wax that I saved!

Another thing that I save along with the wax is some of the glass jars. 

One day when I had nothing going on, I decided to give it a try. Instead of having to make a trip to the nearest craft store for a candle wick kit which is 30 minutes away, I decided to go to my local hardware store and purchase cotton fiber twine. 

I figured if I dipped this into wax and let it dry that it would serve as a wick.

SUCCESS!

After I dipped it, I let to dry on a paper plate. I made sure to dip it in a white wax so when it melted another candle the color wouldn't mix with the candle as well. 

I took a pencil to keep the twine centered while I pureed the hot wax into the jar.

For the picture above, I decided that I wanted to try and create a red, white and blue candle in a mason jar. After I poured the red in, I put the jar into the freezer for about 15 minutes to harden up the wax. 

I then repeated the steps with the white and the blue. BUT I did not actually have blue wax collected to make the blue nor did I have the colors to mix to make it. What I actually did was take an old white candle and melt it with a blue crayon.

This worked perfectly to make the blue wax that I needed!

After finishing the red, white and blue candle, I did the same thing in order to create other candles. At the end of the day, this is how all of my candles turned out.

This was a very simple DIY project and far from messy. I feared that I would have hot wax splashing all over my kitchen and it would dry fast but that wasn't the case at all. And also, don't go running out to buy cheap pots for this. I used the ones that I had in my kitchen. After you pour your melted wax into the jar completely, just take a paper towel and wipe out the inside. Once I was completely done for the day, I just threw the pot in the dishwasher and it was as good as new!

And for all of you who are wondering… the twine does an amazing job as a wick and the entire ball of it was less than $5.00! It is also totally acceptable to buy pre colored wax and wicks from a place like AC Moore or Michaels.

That's all for now! Have any of you tried to make your own candles? Was it successful or a huge fail?

Let me know!

XOXO,

Paige