By now y’all know that my love for candles runs deep. I mean DEEP, y’all! As does my love for vintage shopping. Through the years, I have collected many old jars and crocks. Some (not me!) might say too many. I see a vintage Ball mason jar with metal bails and I have to have it. A small mustard crock… it cannot be left alone on a shelf in a store, can it? It must come home with me! It’s a problem.
I will say this, I use them often. Some I use for storage, but I love to use them for fresh flowers in the farmhouse most of all. With the new year upon us and the overwhelming urge to purge, I was going through the cabinet where I store such vessels and I was shocked. Actually, it was more like astounded, at the number of vintage vessels I have acquired over the years. My soft spot for vintage jars and crocks has become, dare I say it, excessive.
Although I may have more than the average person, I am not ready to part with them yet. I found myself trying to figure out how to keep my precious vintage finds, but also make more use of them. Then, just like that, it hit me. I have always wanted to make my own candles and this was my chance! Up-cycling items I have, but don’t use… yes please!
I feverishly YouTubed how to make your own candles. After a few clicks of the mouse, I was anxiously awaiting the delivery of my supplies. I had to buy a metal pitcher, natural soy wax flakes (which came with wicks, score!) and fragrance oils. I chose a set of fragrances called the Southern Collection because… well… it seemed fitting! Heaven knows, I had plenty of vessels thanks to my vintage shop obsession (seriously, it’s more like magnetism). And, thanks to our love for Thai take-out food I had plenty of wood chopsticks too.
I was all set and ready start my own candle making business… Just kidding! You think with a husband, two kids, two horses, four goats (one being a 6 week old bottle fed baby), a pig, twelve chickens, two cats, two dogs, and a blogging/influencing business I have time to start a candle company?! I don’t think so! I was, however, very excited to try something new.
One Saturday afternoon I found myself alone while the boys were at a soccer tournament for the weekend. Instead of binge watching Netflix, I found myself making candles for hours. It was so much fun! I had the best time coming up with different fragrance combinations. Do I sound like a dork…? Maybe I should have watched Netflix like the cool kids. Anyway, I’m not kidding when I tell you that I was having a blast. I had so much fun that I ran out of vessels. Considering the abundance I started with, that’s saying something!
I’m so excited to share this DIY with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I now know that no vessel is safe in our home thanks to my new candle making obsession! I wish the vessels in your home, “Good luck!” Enjoy!
Handmade Candles
Making your own candles is not only easy and affordable, it's so much fun! After years of collecting small vitage crocks and jars I decided to do more with them than just using them for flowers and storing items. I tried my hand at candle making and to my surprise it was a wonderful way to get creative. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Materials
- Items you need:
- 3 Quart Pan
- 1.5 Quart Metal Pitcher
- Vessels (jars, crocks, candy dishes, etc)
- 5 Pound Natural Soy Wax Flakes (The beauty of this exact brand is that you get wicks with the wax.)
- Fragrance Oils
- Wooden Chopsticks
Instructions
- To prepare your vessels to become candles, make sure they are clean. Wrap the top of the wicks (the part without metal on one end) around the wood chopstick so that when you lay the chopstick across the top of the vessel the wick is long enough that the metal end to reaches the bottom inside. Set the vessels aside.
- Add a couple of inches of water to your pot. Place it on the stove top or hot plate. Turn burner to low/medium low heat. You do not want your water to boil.
- For a 16 oz. candle vessel, you want to add about 6 cups of wax flakes to your metal pitcher.
- Place the metal pitcher in the pot filled with a couple of inches of water (like a double boiler).
- As you see the wax flakes begin to melt, use a wooden chopstick to stir.
- Once the wax is completely melted, add your fragrance oils. This is the fun part, get creative! You're going to use about a third of an once of fragrance oils per 18 ounce candle. Stir to incorporate the fragrance olis in the wax.
- Slowly, pour your wax into your vessle. It's ok if your wick moves, but once all your wax has been poured, be sure to center your wick again so your candle burns evenly.
- Leave the candles to cool for about an hour.
Notes
If after your candles have cooled you notice depressions or empty space, reheat the wax and pour more into your vessel to fill the voids.
