Homemade Scented Candles: The Hobby You Didn't Know You Needed

If you are looking for a fun and easy hobby, why not try making scented candles? Store-bought scented candles can be expensive, so making your own is both money-saving and fun. You can make candles out of anything: jars, cups, fishbowls, and even orange peels. All you need is a wick, essential oils, a jar (or something else to put the candle in), and wax.

Start by melting the store-bought wax over the stove and add in the essential oils of your choosing, giving the candle its fragrance. You can also add flower petals, beads, sprinkles, etc. Next, assemble the wick inside the jar and pour in the hot wax. The wick should be long enough to hang outside the jar. Cut the wick when you've finished poured the wax. After that comes decorating. You can decorate the outside of the jar, as well as the top of the candle wax.

Another candle that is easy to make is a long candlestick. Simply buy a rubber candlestick mold, melt the wax, add the oils, place the wick, and pour in the wax. Once the candlestick has hardened, you can pick flowers and add those to the sides of the candle. To do this, light another candle and use the wax to “paint” over the flowers onto the candlestick. This ensures that the flowers will not come off.

There are two ways to make orange or lemon peel candles. The first way is to use the peel as the jar and follow the same steps as above to make the candle. You can add lemon or orange essential oils to enhance the scent. The second way to make the candles is to slice the orange or lemon in half and scoop out the fruit but leave the center stem piece intact. Then, fill the empty orange or lemon peel with vegetable oil halfway up. Lastly, light the stem which will act as the wick, and your candle should burn for a few hours.

Candles are so easy to make and there are so many ways to make them, so you should never run out of ways to experiment with them!

Attributions

Photos by Olga Serjantu and Rebecca Peterson-Hall on Unsplash