5 Ways to Make Candles from Household Items

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2 5 Ways to Make Candles from Household Items Making candles doesn t have to be expensive and complicated. It doesn t have to be boring either! Here are five ways you can make candles using ingredients you probably have lying around the house right now. Turn into Pretty! Go around your house and collect up all of your old, used candles that are gathering dust. You know the ones I mean, all those candles that were once lovely that are now ugly lumps of wax! These old candle stubs can be melted down all together in a double boiler, like this one TIP - Carefully take out all the old wicks once the wax is all melted. You can then add some color and fragrance if needed. Try using essential oil if you don t have any candle fragrance at home You will need to choose a mold, make sure it is heat resistant and insert a wick. Pour the mixture into your chosen candle mold and let it set. TIP If you don t have any old candles lying around, have a look for candles sets at your local stores. You can usually find them really cheap and they will come already colored. All you have to do is add your own fragrance.

3 Make Crayon Candles Grab some old crayons. Make sure you take any wrapping off! Cut your crayons into chunks. Choose crayons that have colors that match otherwise your wax will melt down to an ugly brown mess. Place your chunks of crayon into a mold that can go into the oven. A muffin tin is perfect, make sure you spray very lightly with cooking oil first. You will need to put a wick into the centre of each. I like to use pre-tabbed wicks suited to tea light candles which make the whole process very easy. You can buy wicks very cheaply online. Place your tray into the oven to melt for 5-7 minutes. Keep an eye on these so they don t burn. Let them cool and there you have some really cool crayon candles. and possibly some children wondering where their crayons have disappeared to!

4 Making Your Own Candle Molds Did you know that you can use almost anything in your home to make candle molds. Silicone Rubber Silicone rubber can be used to coat everyday objects and once dried and removed can be used to make candles in almost any shape you can think of. There are a heap of You Tube videos which will show you exactly what to do; it can be a bit complicated. Cardboard Snack Containers These are perfect for making container candles. Cut the container in half for a shorter candle or leave intact for a beautiful big pillar candle. Tea Cups These are so pretty and very cheap to make. Your local thrift store will have old tea sets for sale for next to nothing. Old Glass Jars You can use almost any glass container for a candle mold. Baby food jars, jam jars, pasta sauce jars, wine glasses. Anything that is thick and heat proof will work.

5 Apple Candles Nope, that s not a typo. Possibly the easiest and quickest way you will ever make a candle! You will need three things Apple Tea light Candle Knife Grab your apple and knife. You will need to carefully cut a chunk out of the top of the apple like so. Grab your tea light candle. Place it in the newly created hole in the top of the candle Voila! Make a few of these and use them as table centrepieces for real wow factor.

6 Vaseline Candles Yep, you read it right. You can actually make a very handy candle for emergencies using Vaseline! The Vaseline candle is definitely a favorite, so much fun to make. Take some aluminium foil, cut into a square of about 6 inches on each side. You will also need a cotton ball and a jar of Vaseline. Rub Vaseline generously into the cotton ball. Then place the cotton ball into the centre of your aluminium foil. Fold the foil over the cotton ball three times in one direction and three times in the other. Next we need to open our last fold. Cut an X over where the cotton ball sits in the foil. Gently peel up the corners exposing the cotton and pull a little out. And there you have it, a Vaseline Candle that, when lit, will burn for up to 30 minutes! You could keep one of these handy for those unexpected power failures.

7 The next step is up to you Get creative and think outside the square! It s possible to make candles from many other household items including; oranges olive oil vegetable shortening Many people think that molds for candles are expensive but that s not true Molds can be made from almost anything; milk cartons old glass jars drinking glasses tea cups For more tips and ideas visit One last HOT TIP - it is handy to keep a variety of wicks at home just in case the need to make a candle comes on unexpectedly. They aren t very expensive and at least you will be covered if the power goes out. No one likes sitting in the dark! *** Make sure you remember your candle safety and never leaving a burning candle unattended