Hunter’s Flame

October is a month of change as the colors change, weather changes and the pursuit to find a fabulous turkey for Thanksgiving ensues. This is how I decided on the colors for my main candle. Green and brown remind me of camouflage colors that many hunters wear as well as military.

Halloween is fast approaching, so naturally black and orange were an obvious choice. It just happened that purple and gold were my high school colors and red and blue are always popular patriotic colors.

My goal was to use every color in the crayon box and attempt to make one beautiful candle out of four attempts.

Ingredients for Making Candles:

4 Packages of Crayola 8 Jumbo Crayons

4 Candle Jars with Lids

4 Wicks

4 Wick Holders

1 Craft Knife

8 Essential Oils (one for each color)

1 Package of small Dixie cups

16 Wooden Stirrer Sticks

Metal Spoon

Scissors

2 small rubber mats to protect surface the glass candle holder sits on

2 Pot Holders

Paper Towels

Optional: 4 Labels & Pen (Did not use, but will use when gifting to others)

Optional: Citronella Wax (Can reuse melted candle wax, 1 tbsp. will keep bugs away if using candle outdoors)

Open packages of crayons and place in a bowl of water for 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, place a wick in the middle of each jar and place wick holder on the top of each wick. The wick should go in the middle of the hole. The wick holder stick will be held by the top of the jar.

Start unwrapping the wrappers on the crayons. The wrappers will just fall off with little effort.

You will repeat this process twice as 2 crayons are required for each color and with 4 colors, this requires 8 crayons for each candle.

Take two of the same color of crayons when you determine your color combination and essential oil for each color.

Line up 4 Dixie cups. Take the first color and break crayons in 3 to 4 pieces. If you cannot break, take a craft knife and cut into small pieces. Add 1 tablespoon of citronella wax, if desired by taking a tablespoon from a citronella candle using a metal spoon. If you would like to add essential oils to your candles, add 6 to 8 drops to each color in Dixie cup.

Place all 4 Dixie cups in the microwave on high for 5 minutes. After timer goes off, remove and stir with wooden stir stick. If melted crayon color has no chunks and is smooth, pour in candle holder immediately as wax will start setting within 30 minutes. If color has not melted, place back in microwave for one minute and continue this process until, all crayon wax has melted. Some colors will melt faster than others.

Repeat this process 3 additional times to obtain 4 layers for each candle. Let candle sit for 30 minutes before pouring next color on.

Safety Note: Please use pot holders when removing Dixie cups from microwave and touching candle glasses after pouring hot wax. Use paper towels to remove wax after it has dried as it is easy to peel off and clean up.

After the last color is poured on, let candle set for 30 minutes. All candles will be different in size due to color.

Remove the wick holder.

Take scissors and cut wick even with top of the glass. Your candles are ready to shine bright.

Use your creative imagination to showcase your beautiful homemade crayon. It is a work of art to make a candle.

Enjoy as the sky truly is the limit!