A Candle Making DIY

I have become a bit of a DIY’er of late – I love finding a more cost effective, yet as amazing alternative to something I already love and in this case candles are that thing.

I absolutely adore candles and have spent a considerable amount of my life earnings on splurging on some of my favourite brands; from Diptyque and Jo Malone to Cire Trudon and NEOM. I love them all, and I especially like picking a candle up on my travels. That way, similar to buying a fragrance on holiday, you are reminded of your fond memories every time you burn the candle.

However, with load shedding upon us and my love for having 2 or 3 candles burning at any given time every.single.night, I can’t quite afford to maintain this habit, so I thought I could save my luxury, high-end candles for special occasions and get onto making some home-made one’s that are more economical, yet still smell as beautiful. I am so chuffed with this DIY as it literally takes a few minutes and is such fun to do. God, that makes my life sound thrilling, but it really is (the candle making, not my life)!

I actually saw Talya Goldberg’s candle making post after I placed my order but her’s gave me peace of mind that I was on the right track, look at her gorgeous post here.

What you will need:

1kg Pure Soy Wax (order online off Candle Deli) – this made roughly 6 candles and costs R116

5m Medium Flat Braid Wick – R40 (also ordered off Candle Deli – order arrived in less than 24hrs)

Wick Sustainer pack – R30

Take-away chop-sticks

Scissors

Press-Stick

Jars or moulds of choice

Essential Oils of your choice – I chose the following oils from SOIL– I have linked to the oils on their online store, see below image for oils I chose:

Organic Grapefruit Oil

Organic Lemon Oil

Organic Orange Oil

Patchouli Oil

Vetiver Oil

Ylang Ylang Oil

I love these oils as they are organic so really pure and have a very concentrated formula meaning a little goes quite a long way. You can also mix scents which you will see I have done below.

Step 1:

Heat a few blocks of wax in a microwave an old jug – I used any old plastic one. It’s easy to clean afterwards and better to have a jug for pouring purposes. I put it in for 3 minutes, stopped to stir it and again until all wax was melted.

While this is melting thread your wick through your sustainer and put a small blob of press stick underneath this and stick it down in the centre of your jar. Suspend the end of your wick tautly using a chop-stick or by tying around a pencil.

Step 2:

Add your essential oils to the wax. As mentioned, I used my SOIL essential oils and did a few different combo’s:

Grapefruit, Lemon & Orange

Ylang Ylang on its own

Vetiver and Lemon

Patchoili and Ylang Ylang

Simply odd 10/15 drops per candle and mix into the wax.

Step 3: 

Pour the wax into the mould – do this slowly to avoid disturbing the wick sustainer.

Step 4:

Leave to set over-night, trim wicks and enjoy!

I cannot wait to do more combo’s and, as Talya said, gift them to friends – what a good idea!

6 replies
  1. Simone C
    Simone C says:

    Where did you buy the jars? They look great….like you bought them in a shop. Love the idea of gifting them!

    Reply
  2. Samantha
    Samantha says:

    Thank you for the inspiration! I made my first batch of candles this weekend and had such fun 🙂 In one of them I mixed a vanilla pod and beans with some Truth coffee beans. Smells delicious! And Candle Deli is a great find.

    Reply

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