DIY Xmas Gifting Series: Scented Soy Wax Candles
Next up on my DIY Xmas Gifting Series are these heavily-scented aromatherapy candles. I do really love the posh ones in the shops though – you know the ones I mean... intensely scented and lovely (and not cheap!)
Not always in a position to be able to purchase the fancy ones as gifts – I decided to experiment to see if I could create something similar at home.
Cire Trudon candles are a favourite of mine.
So here's my Three-Step guide to make your own posh soy candles at home. These are really easy (but still impressive) gifts to make and soy wax is awesome, not only is it much better for the environment, and your health, because it burns cleaner, but it's also so easy to clean up afterwards.
Artificial candle scents are available, and the fragrances are much more concentrated, but I used only essential oils – and suddenly a perfumer – I decided I would create my own Christmas mix! Eucalyptus is one of my favourite scents, I love how fresh and bracing it is, so I used mostly Eucalyptus oil, but I also added Pine, Lavender, frankincense and myrrh to make them all Christmassy.
I bought the soy wax from Amazon in 1kg bags, and to make things simple and to save measuring, I worked out that I could make to make four 300ml candles out of 1kg of wax.
To make Four 300ml candles, you'll need:
1kg Soy Wax Flakes (I got mine here from Amazon)
Candle wicks (I got mine here from Amazon)
Glue dots to hold the wicks in place
Essential Oils or fragrance (per 1kg bag of wax, I used 5 Tablespoons of Eucalyptus, 3 Teaspoons of Pine, 1 Teaspoon of Lavender, and 2 teaspoons of a frankincense and myrrh mix.
Containers for your candles (I bought 300ml glass tumblers in packs of 4)
What you'll need
STEP ONE
Put all the soy wax flakes into a bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water, when melted, remove the bowl from the saucepan and let it cool for about 10/15 minutes before adding the oils or fragrances (If you have a thermometer, the wax should be no more than 185F before adding the oils). If you add the oils when the soy wax is too hot, the scent will evaporate and your candles will loose their scent.
STEP TWO
While the wax is melting and then cooling, fix the wicks into the glasses with the glue dots and measure and mix your oils.
To hold the wicks upright, I pegged the them to skewers laid across the glasses, like below.
I used this trick to hold the wicks upright.
STEP THREE
Add the oil mix to the wax and stir very well to make sure the oils are mixed through, then carefully pour into the glasses and leave until set (a day or two).
And you're done!
I've been burning some of the candles to test them out, and I'm really pleased with the results. Hopefully the recipients of these gifts will like them too! I've made eight so far, and have eight more to make, but now I have the recipe nailed, it's really easy and, I can have them completely done in about half an hour!
I printed some simple labels in a modern font to finish off the gifts.