Homemade candles - craft project for all ages

in #ecotrain6 years ago
Last ten days were "fun". They are changing our electricity poles and power has been out for the most of the time. You do not think about how beneficial it is to have electricity in your house until you lose it. I was completely lost for the first couple of days because I could not do anything. No washing anything because boilers run on electricity, no opening the fridge because everything would melt, no using my computer and no using my phone after the battery died. I spent the most of my time reading, meditating or being out of the house and of course, the list of choirs that is waiting for me to do is huge. I have read 3 books in seven days and learned that every day away from steemit is giving Gina a massive headache. Notifications are pilling up...

Since candles were my best friend, I decided to show you my homemade candles and maybe inspire you to make your own. It is a fun and creative project, fairly simple to do and you can include your kids too. I am sure they will love it.

Glass containers

This can be any glass, small or big. I usually use wide glass cups or those fancy tall ones that are normally used for drinking wine or cocktails. You can buy them in almost any store that sells home decor but they are found in hobby art stores too. The cheapest way to go is to use something that you already have in your home. This way, you will reuse an old thing and give it a new and shiny purpose.

Gel wax for candles

This kind of gel is sold in hobby art stores and it usually comes in buckets. Some stores sell it in colors but it is more often transparent. In my country, prices are fine and acceptable. 1.2 kilograms of wax is around 21 dollars. I can make a dozen large candles from that so it comes to about 2 dollars per candle but if I am doing smaller ones than it is even cheaper.

Candle coloring

You want the liquid kind. It comes in little ampoules and you can not find all the colors but mixing them up will give you whatever color you like. One of the ways to teach your child what colors will give a new color when mixed together. Just be careful and only use a couple of drops. If you use too much coloring, your wax will no longer be seethrough. I have found that 3 to 5 drops per candle is enough to make it colorful and still nice and transparent enough.

Candle wicks

Buy the largest ones. If you buy the small ones, they may be too small and you will only get frustrated like I was the first time. Well, lesson learned, I buy only the large ones now. You will need some extra length to fixate them and they are easily shortened, just cut them with scissors to the length you need.

Decoration

This is where your imagination comes in, it is your only limit. Just be sure to NEVER use plastic! Choose rocks, herbs, seashells, and materials that are either nonflammable or nontoxic when they lit up. For decoration that is on the outside of the glass and away from the wax, you can use anything because that part is safe from the flame. You can glue it to the glass using a hot-glue gun.


Candle wax for this project comes in a gel form and needs to be heated up to become liquid. Pick a stewing pan that you will use ONLY for this and will NOT cook food in it later!

STEP 1.

Put some wax candle gel in the pan and heat it up. Add a few drops of coloring and even some scent if you like. When it becomes liquid it is done.

STEP 2.

Put the candle wick in your glass and wrap the end on a pencil or a toothpick. Place that toothpick on the top of the glass so it holds the candle wick in place. Your bottom part of the wick should be touching the bottom part of the glass.

STEP 3.

You can add some decoration (sand or rocks) on the bottom of the glass and then put in the wick. The rest of the decoration comes after you have put the wick in. If you want your decoration to float in the candle put some wax in, then add decoration and cover it with some more wax, like layers. This can seem tricky but it is really not. You put some wax, then some decor, then some more wax and repeat until you are at the top of the glass. When you are done, leave your candle to cool down for about an hour so the wax becomes gel again and is no more in its liquid form.

Here is how some of my candles turned out:







And my favorite one:



If you cannot or will not use wax gel and this seems to hard or complicated, you can always play with candle decoration instead. There are amazing ways to decorate your candle that is already made but too simple to your liking. I like turning a wine glass upside down and putting a candle on top with decorations inside of the glass. There is also putting the candle in the glass and decorations around it. Play with it and see what amazing things you can come up with. Here is some of my work:


I am still selling my felt products and accepting SBD. Shipment is all around the world. You can read all about it HERE There is info on ordering, products, shippment, everything really.

The person who won free shipping for her next order is @dreemsteem. Congratulations!

UNTIL NEXT TIME,
KEEP YOUR SMILE ON!



All images used in this post are mine and you cannot use them without my permission. Thank you.
- the candle clipart used in my titles is from Free Clip Art Library
- the bitmoji is well... my bitmoji. Get yours at https://www.bitmoji.com/


@steemitbloggers

Sort:  

Great project! I will try it with my kids. Is there any other material you can use instead of this wax? Thank you for sharing!

Different stores sell different kinds of gel wax, you can buy it or use the leftovers of your used candles and mix it up, that is fun too.

I definitely do not like power black out too. and poor Gina. LOL

This seems to be an interesting project and I wish I have time to do it. It does sound time-consuming. But I must admit they are so beautiful and fun.

THANK YOU for sharing such a detailed step by steps blog for us.

I have to admit, this does take some time to make. Whenever I make them, I put aside a good part of my day for it but like you sad, it is very fun to do :)

you are so artistic and creative, I love the ones you made especially with the sea shells in them

Thank you honey, I love working with seashells, I never go to a beach without returning with a couple of them :)

Thats a popular thing on the beaches here as well I always see people looking for shells, I occasionally grab ones that stand out I have s mall box of them

Look at you back at it again! I love when you let your creativity flow! These are beautiful!! Your favorite one is my favorite one too, just so pretty! I love the seashells and the ribbon tied around it.

Thank you for always sharing a step by step tutorial so that we can always have the opportunity to have a Go at one of your projects!! Well done~ 😊

Why are you here honey? Go and hug that beautiful baby of yours 💚💚💚 Thank you for your lovely words of encouragement 💚

Lol!! I was just reading a few posts while the baby was getting her vitals checked. I love her so much and can’t stop hugging and kissing her!! 🤗💕😄

Thanks for the post, but to be totally honest with you, the first thing that came to mind when I thought of a home made candle, was those home made candles made from human fat from one or other horror movie....eish! Was it silence of the lambs??
My kids would love this as a little crafting project

LOLOLOL, you are a weird one, aren't you? :) hihihi, thanks for stopping by 💚

I suppose to some. I dont even like horror movies....

Dang, I think I would go crazy if the power went out for that long. Sounds like it was out for almost the entire day?

Really like those candle designs, love that you picked very soft colors.

I would went mad too if it were not for meditation and reading books :)

They are really pretty @zen-art I need candles at the moment as I'm having a power issue :)

You too? I hope you have some candles close to you :)

These are beautiful! Nicely done. You're so creative in so many ways! 💖

Thank you honey, you are so sweet 💚

OMG you took the homemade candle thing to another level. Your job is really beautyful.

And now I am blushing, thank you 💚

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.36
TRX 0.12
JST 0.040
BTC 70846.59
ETH 3567.69
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.79