Making Homemade Candle Presents

Many people enjoy highly scented candles as a gift simply because it is something they can use all of the time. Whenever you give a handmade gift, it shows that you spent one of your most important resources – your time. Not only is it a lot of fun to make your own candles, but it is a budget friendly craft as well.

To get started, you will first want to make sure you have all the materials you need ready. The most basic things you will need include a double boiler for melting the wax, a block of wax or wax chips, fragrance oil, wick, dye, metal spoon, and a jar. Once you perfect the basics, you can then consider doing more complex designs with candle molds to create different shapes. Once you have all the supplies gathered, you are ready to get started.

Melting the wax is the first step you will need to do. There are many different kinds of wax you can use, but the only main difference in making the candles will be how long you need to cook it in order to melt it. If you want to make scented soy candles, you will need to use soy wax instead of paraffin wax. A double boiler is recommended in melting the wax, as the bottom pan of water will help protect it from becoming burnt on the stove.

When the wax is melted thouroughly, the next step is to add in the dyes and scents you wish to use. You can find a wide variety of dyes and fragrances from many different craft stores and suppliers. Always follow the manufacturers instructions on how to add in dyes and essential oils into your wax.

Once the wax is melted with the scented oil and dyes, you are ready to pour it carefully into your candle holder. You will want to make sure you pour it in slowly and carefully, since it is very hot and may possibly burn you. Once you have poured the wax, you are now ready to insert the wick. An easy trick for keeping the wick in place while the wax hardens is to tie it around a pencil and lay the pencil across horizontally to keep the wick from falling.

After your candle has cooled and the wax has completely hardened, you are ready to give your scented candle as a unique homemade gift. You can make it even more personalized by attaching decorative accents such as ribbon or a special gift tag. Anyone who receives a handmade scented candle by you will be sure to enjoy it and they’ll never guess how easy it was for you to make!