Making a Basic 8oz Scented Candle

Have you ever been interested in making your very own candle that smells like your favorite scent? They are surprisingly easy to make, fun to make, and fairly cheap to produce. Just about anyone can do it, and it requires very few supplies to pull off. Candle making takes very little time and can be great for gifts or can be for personal enjoyment. The candles made here are created with all-natural soy wax, colored and scented. The process to make the candle takes about 30 minutes to make, and about 24 hours before you can enjoy the fruits of your labor.

There are a few things that you must have, and a couple of things that are nice and helpful to have on hand.

Required:

• A clean and flat surface to work on. I personally have a difficult time keeping my shop area clean and free of clutter. It is always a good idea to go ahead and make sure you have plenty of space to work on, and remember that if it’s over in your area it will likely get dye or wax on it. The wax will also need to cure on a level surface as to not run towards one direction of your container.

• A source of heat that can get to at least 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Your stove top is perfectly fine,
  but in this Instructable I will be using a camping stove that is close to my work area. I prefer a propane fuel source personally, as it heats your water quickly and cools off almost immediately.

1. A candle melting pot.
2. A boiling pot large enough to hold your melting pot.
3. A cookie cutter large enough to balance your melting pot onto. It will also need to fit inside your boiling pot.
4. Thermometer to measure the temperature of the wax. You can use a normal thermometer but in this Instructable, I will be using a non-contact, Infrared thermometer as it's what I already had in my house.
5. A container of wax. I am using an all-natural soy-wax.
6. Measuring Cup.
7. Candle Wicks.
8. Something capable of stirring the melted wax. I am using a popsicle stick.
9. Candle scent. I am using the scent "Pumpkin Spice".
10. A container for the wax. I am using a very common 8oz round tin for my candle. You can use a mason jar or any small glass container instead, if you prefer.

Optional:

1. Baby wipes, or something to clean up any messes you make. You will likely need them.
2. Hot glue gun.
3. Eye dropper.
4. Scale to weigh wax.
5. Candle dye. Because I am using a pumpkin scent, I will be using an orange dye to go along with it.
6. Wick centering device.

What you will want to do is prepare your double boiler.

• Add cookie cutter to the bottom of your boiling pot
• Add enough water to cover cookie cutter and about 1/2-1" above the cookie cutter. Using a cookie cutter will keep your melting pot from touching the bottom of the boiling pot and prevent the wax from getting direct heat or an uneven heat.
• Turn on your heat source. Using a propane camping stove, I was able to get my water to proper temperature in about 5 minutes.
• If you are using a hot glue gun, go ahead and turn it on.

While the water is reaching its' needed temperature, you can place your wick inside your container.

• (if using a hot glue gun) place a pea size amount of glue to the bottom of the metal tab that is on the wick.
• Push the glued wick onto the inside bottom of the container. Try and get the wick as close to the center of the container as possible.
• If you are using a wick centering device, use it to hold the wick in place.

Even though it's not required, I recommend using a hot glue gun, as the glue will help keep the wick in place after you pour in the hot wax. The wax will make the wick go limp and it's very easy to lose your wicks' position, so gluing it in place helps.

At this point, your water should be at proper boiling temperature. They type of wax I am using is an all-natural soy wax that has a pretty low melting point at 140 degrees.

• Measure out your wax. To fill an 8oz container, I needed just over 1 1/2 oz of dry wax.
• (If using a scale) measure your empty measuring container and add enough wax to increase the dry weight by 8oz. In my case, my empty measuring cup measured 2.4oz. I then added 8oz of dry wax to get 10.4oz as shown in the photo.
• Slowly pour the dry wax inside the melting pot.
• Place the melting pot inside the boiling pot, resting it on top of the cookie cutter.

• Stir the wax periodically until it is completely melted.
• Once your wax is completely melted, remove the melting pot from the boiling pot and set it to the side somewhere out of the heat source, but safe to rest. I simply put my melting pot on the next burner that was turned off.
• Keep measuring your melted wax until the temperature is very close to 140 degrees.
• Add 1/2 oz of your scent once your wax cools to 140 degrees. You do not want to add your scent when your wax is too hot, as it will burn off some of the smell and you won't get a strong scented candle. If you are using a different quantity of wax, you will want to adjust how much scent you add accordingly. For my 8oz candle, all I need is 1/2 oz of scent.
• Slowly and consistently stir the scent in to the wax for about 1 minute.

If you are using the candle dye, follow the next steps:

• Using your eye dropper, add your dye to the melted and scented wax. The scent can change the color of the dye, so we want to add the dye after we added the scent. I originally added 10 drops of dye but the coloring was too light for what I was wanting, so I added an additional 20 drops. NOTE your wax will dry a significantly lighter color than it appears when wet. It's like painting the walls of your house, just make sure to make to go a few drops darker as it will dry lighter.
• Stir slowly and continuously to blend in the dye to the wax.
• Use your stirring stick to drop a couple drops of wax onto something like some wax paper or a baby wipe. The wax that comes off of the stirring stick will dry after a couple seconds and show you how your candle will look when it's dry. If it's too light for your liking, add more dye.

After you have blended the scent and dye (if used) in and are satisfied with the coloring, allow the wax to come to a 105 degree temperature.

• Once the wax is 105 degrees, slowly and carefully pour the wax in to the container. If you have a wire rack, you can put your container on the rack before pouring. It will help the candle cool evenly and quicker, but isn't necessary.
• Do not over pour in your container. Mine has a ridge that goes about 90% the way to the top, and that's where I want to stop pouring.
• If there is any leftover wax, I like to pour it in to a smaller container like a mini solo cup. The candle will harden quicker and you can get an idea of what your candle will look and smell like quicker than the larger container.
• Allow the wax to cool for no less than 4 hour before trying to move it.

One of the most fun parts of creating something is getting to make the labels you will place on your
candle. This isn’t necessary if you are just using the candle for personal use, but if you are gifting or selling the candle, you will need at least two labels. One label will need to have your logo, (if you have one) the scent of the candle as well. The other label will need to be a warning label that tells the consumer the hazards of burning a candle. This label is highly recommended to avoid any legal issues down the road, if you are selling the candle. It can go on the bottom of the candle so it isn’t visible, which is what I did.

Avery has a very simple and easy to use template creator called “design and make” that you can create label templates and print them directly from your printer at home. You can get there by clicking this link: https://www.avery.com/secure/signin?returnPage=%...

• After no less than 4 hours and the wax has properly had a chance to cool, apply your created labels to the bottom of the container and top of the lid.

The candle will need to rest overnight before trying to do anything with it. I know you want to, but DO NOT light your candle yet.

• Once candle has rested overnight, trim the wick to 1/4" length above the wax.
• It is recommended to NOT burn the candle until 24 hours after you poured it. I have found that you will get the maximum scent 10 days after you pour. So if you have the patience, wait 10 days before attempting to light your candle, so you can reap the full benefits of your personally made candle.
• If the candle dries and has an ugly patterned look on top, you can use a heat gun and remelt the top layer. Once it cools, it should melt to a smooth, more appealing surface.

Whenever you are ready after 24 hours, light the candle and enjoy!