Last year was the first time I tried making my own soy candles as homemade Christmas gifts.  I enjoyed the process so much, I did it again this year.  So if you are a friend or relative…guess what you might be getting!  My daughter, B, also eagerly helped me this time.  This morning, she even took the time to make 3 extra purple soy candles.  This way, we had some of them for ourselves for Advent.  Soy is a good choice for votives because it burns longer and cleaner than other types of wax.  However, it is too soft to make good tapers.

Materials

• soy wax ( I go through 3.5 – 3.7 ounces for each candle)
• 4 oz mason jars with lids (I like the pretty crystal looking kind for this project)
• ready made lead free braided candle wicking – I bought a big spool last year
• *Crayola crayons or other commercially available wax colorants (I have read crayons are not ideal for coloring soy candles, but so far after 4 batches, it works okay for me)
• fragrance oil
• clothes pins
• aluminum pitcher designed for candle making.  Really any pot will do, but it is hard to clean the waxy stuff off afterwards, and it isn’t as easy to pour.
• water filled pot to make double boiler with pitcher
• long handled spoon for stirring
• candy thermometer

My candle making steps

1. measure out 3.5 oz soy wax flakes for each candle mason jar I plan to make
2. slowly melt wax in pitcher over double boiler on stove
3. meanwhile trim wicks long enough to reach bottom of jar plus extra to position inside clothes pin holder
4. dip each individual wick inside the melted wax and set aside on tray or plate to cool
5. gently add coloring at 180 degrees
6. stir until melted completely
7. remove from heat and set aside to allow to cool to 140 degrees
8. when wicks are cool to touch, clip clothes pin on wick at desired length to rest over and inside jar. Set aside.
9. add fragrance to pitcher once cooled to 140 degrees
10. stir
11. slowly pour wax into jars
12. add wicks with clips to hold in place during cooling period
13. let cool
14. if any candles have concave tops after cooling, add a thin layer of remaining remelted wax from pitcher, but pre dipping wicks helps prevent this.
15. remove clothes pins and trim wick to desired length

*The process takes me about 3 hours from start to set and cooled.  Once completely cooled, I add the lids to keep in fragrance.  On average each candle costs me about $2 to make, and that is using a coupon to buy the wax.  Other types of waxes are much less expensive to use, but I like that soy burns cleaner and longer.  A similar sized specialty candle, like Yankee candle , retails between $8-$12.