How to make beautiful candles at home

Modern candle making is not only the production of necessary household items. This is a true art, striking flight of thought and unlimited imagination. Modern candles are the real elements of decor and interior, which easily replace works of art. Today making candles has become a favorite hobby among many people. The fact is that candles are made easily, they do not require a lot of expensive material, but the field for fantasy is endless.

What you need for making candles with their own hands

To make a candle, we need paraffin. It can be bought in specialized stores for needlework, as well as in hardware stores. Paraffin can be taken from old, unburned or broken candles. Instead of paraffin, you can take beeswax.This is a natural material that, when burned, cleans and disinfects the air. However, it can not be stained and flavored. Recently, soy wax is gaining popularity. It quickly hardens, burns for a long time and is easy to clean.

Pay attention to where you will work. Prepare a workspace and cover it with an old oilcloth or newspaper. We will need a pan for a water bath, an old bowl, a wick and a thermometer. As a wick, you can use a thin rope or paper bundle. You can decorate the candle with decorative elements - Christmas twigs, shells and beautiful stones. Do not forget about the dyes - it is better to use oil-based dyes, food will not work. By adding aromatic oils at a certain stage, you give the candles a special charm - when burning, they will emanate a pleasant smell.

How to make a candle

1. Type in a pot of water and put on fire. You will need it for a water bath. It is impossible to heat wax on an open fire - it burns and evaporates.
2. Crush paraffin into chips and place in an old aluminum bowl.Keep in mind that paraffin is practically not washed, therefore, it is advisable to have a separate vessel for the manufacture of candles.
3. Paraffin should be planed, do not put the wax in a solid piece - it will melt for a very long time. Place a small container in a pot of boiling water and wait for the wax to melt.
4. Just in case, have warm soapy water and a damp rag on hand. If the wax gets on the table or plate, it will need to be immediately wiped.
5. When heating wax, use a thermometer. In the craft stores sell a special thermometer for the manufacture of decorative candles. If you did not find such a thermometer, you can use the usual confectionary counterpart.
6. The wax usually melts at a temperature of 85-90 degrees. It is very important to monitor the temperature in order not to overheat the wax. If you allow it to heat up more than it should be, it can begin to boil, and then just ignite.
7. Melting wax is a fire hazardous process. Carefully monitor paraffin melting and do not trust the process to children without adult supervision. If the wax caught fire, you can not extinguish it with water, use a cloth for this.
8. If you drown wax from old used candles, you need to pay attention to whether there are old wicks in the mass. If necessary, remove them with tongs.
9. When the wax becomes liquid, it needs to add flavor and color. You can add multiple colors and do not mix much to get a candle with multi-color divorces.
10. Prepare a candle mold. Usually the form is a glass cup with transparent or patterned walls. It is necessary to fix the wick so that it is in the direct state strictly in the center. To do this, one end of the wick needs to be fixed on a round tin plane the size of a penny. The second end of the wick is tied to a stick that holds it upright.
11. If you want to dilute the candle decor, it's time to fill the form with them. It is best to place them as close as possible to the walls of the form, so that after the hardening of the wax they can be seen.
12. The wax mass gently pours into the candle mold. In this case, you need to make sure that the wick is not shifted.
13. Wax and paraffin harden depending on the density of the raw material. Usually homemade candles harden 10-12 hours.But it is best to withstand the day, the longer the candle hardens, the better it will burn. You do not need to put a candle in the fridge.

After hardening the candle can be used. Before this, do not forget to cut the wick, leaving a small tail for burning. The candle can be pulled out of the mold or left for use directly in it. Homemade candles can be a pleasant and original gift.

It is interesting! If you add citronella flavored oil to the wax when cooking the candle, the candle will drive away the mosquitoes when it burns. It is a safe, simple and effective method of protection against annoying insects.

How to make a gel candle

Gel candles are gaining popularity due to its lightness and original design. Decorating gel candles is a pleasure, because the transparent structure allows all the decoration elements to be visible. Consider how to make a gel candle.

1. In the store for crafts and crafts you need to buy a special gel for the manufacture of candles. It can be transparent or colored. You can mix several colors to get the desired shade.
2. We heat the gel in the same way as paraffin. The gel becomes liquid at 100 degrees.
3. In the prepared form we omit the wick in the same way as in the previous description. At the bottom, lower the decorative elements - buttons, pieces of dried citrus fruits, toys, beads - anything. Please note that the items to be decorated should be non-flammable.
4. Pre-wash the decorative elements and dry them. Some decorations can be put on the bottom, while others can be added to the candle as the molten gel is poured. They will remain as if floating in space.
5. Arrange the decor elements so that they are not located close to the wick. Maintain a distance from the wick of at least one centimeter.
6. Sometimes after a candle hardens, bubbles form inside the gel. To avoid this, the form must be heated. This can be done by dipping it in hot water or using a hair dryer. If you put the form in water, do not forget to dry it thoroughly afterwards. In case you want the opposite, you want to decorate the candle with a lot of bubbles and put emphasis on this, you need to cool the mold beforehand in the freezer.

After hardening the gel candle can not be used earlier than in a day.

Interesting ideas for making candles

1. As an interesting idea, you can use the gel of several colorful shades. To do this, pour a little gel on the bottom of the form and wait a few minutes until it grabs. After that, pour the gel in a different shade into the container. So you can combine colors and make a bright striped candle. If you want the colors to have a smooth transition, you do not need to wait for a long time to set. In this case, they will be mixed at the border of color. If you want to get clear boundaries, you should wait a little longer. However, do not overdo the composition, otherwise after a complete solidification a whitish film may form on the surface - it will spoil the appearance of the candle.
2. You can cook a natural candle from lemon zest. To do this, cut the lemon in half, carefully cut the flesh. When clotting is added to the gel, lavender essential oil and a sprig of rosemary. The melted gel must be poured into a mold and allowed to cool. It will turn out beautiful and fragrant fruit candle.
3. In order to emit a pleasant aroma from a finished candle, you need to add coffee beans to the melted wax. After pouring the wax into the mold, decorate the top of the candle with an original pattern of pips.
4. You can make a candle with your own photos. To do this, print a photo on the tracing paper and cut the image. After that, attach the picture to the candle and heat it with a hairdryer. After some time, the drawing will begin to be transferred to the candle. So you can make candles with any pattern or picture.

Exquisite decorative candles can change the atmosphere in the house. Candles made with their own hands, make the interior warm and cozy.

Video: how to make transparent gel candles