DIY Homemade Candles

Before I became pregnant and the smell became far too strong for me, I loved making candles.

I always seem to have scented candles burning and it seemed a waste of money to continually buy them in the shops when I knew I could make something just as nice on my own. I had always loved messing about with candles as a kid and found touching wax and the smells really relaxing and therapeutic so I was looking forward to looking into this hobby and see if I was any good at it.

I initially began by buying a Candle Making Starter Kit from Amazon.You can buy this for £10.14 currently with free delivery.

I also bought soap making kit at the same time but I didn't find this as much fun to do.

Early Candles

As I began making candles they started off small, and admittedly not very good! My ideas of adding things like dried lavender and my colour mixing skills weren't the best ideas but I was not disheartened easily. It was such a fun craft to do.

Early Candles

But as my interest and love increased, I began experimenting more and more, and spent so much money on different scents and colours from 4candles.net and really enjoyed sharing them with friends and family.

St. Patrick's Day Candle

Above, is another early example of a candle I made for my Mum for St. Patricks Day 2011.

Lavender Scented Candle

Cupcake Candle

Amazon must have realised I enjoyed this candle making craft, and I received an email about the Cupcake Candle making kit above!

I realised I could make Icecream Sundae Candles with this method too, so I went out and bought this lovely Iced Cream dish just like what you would get in an ice cream parlour. I think the end result was pretty convincing! It certainly smelled delicious!

Strawberry Sundae Candle

I bought more, and more jars, various scents and colours all from 4candles.co.uk.
I had soon spent hundreds of pounds on my hobby but there was no stopping me. You can even recycle all of your old candles and bits of wax by melting it down again to reuse, (making sure to melt similar coloured wax together otherwise you end up with a poo colour.)

Tiny Candle In a Jar

Bubblegum Scented Candle In a Jar

When I started running out of candle holders I began filling old jars that would have been recycled anyway. I had to start asking friends and family to keep jars for me so I could fill them up too!

Bubblegum Scented

Seabreeze Layered Candle

Freshly Cut Grass Scented Candle

Baby Powder Scented Candle

My partners Nana gave me this jar which has a beautiful butterfly on it! I loved it and saw a new purpose for it - It had to have a candle in there!

Various Candles - Shot Glass Moulds

I found so many types of moulds to use when making candles. The above is a perfect example using an old shot glass, piercing a hole in the top for the wick to come through and voila! Once the wick is through use blue tack to stop wax spilling out the wick hole and fill your mould as normal with the candle wax.

Various Candles made from an old M&s dish!

Jelly Candle In a Martini Glass

I bought some jelly candle wax, and I had wanted to make a funky Martini Gel Candle. I bough this from Amazon again! But the gel has to be melted at really hot temperatures so it wasn't the easiest to work with.

Penis Bubblegum scented candle

Last but not least I got a penis shaped ice cube tray from my friend who had bought it originally from Ann Summers and didn't think it was appropriate to use at home as she had a young daughter. I simply put the two sides of the candles together with the wick in the centre and melted it together. The results were so good I had an Ann Summers Party rep get in touch to ask me to make more to sell to her, unfortunately the cost of making it at home didn't make it a viable opportunity to sell on.

I hope this has inspired some of you to do the same. I will get back to candle making when the smell of the scents doesnt make me so lightheaded  in the future, I promise!

Brigid

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