Pouring My Life into My Work (Candle Making)

 So I decided to get onto Etsy and make a living, right? I didn't want to do just anything because I have a passion for certain things, but not other things. I'm not looking to make a complete living at this stage, but rather supplementing my income, and putting money to the side to rebuild the business too. I'm doing soap making and candle making, and selling my books of course.  I'll have a day job as well soon, but for right now I'm pouring my life into my work literally.  I've been working with soy wax only but in the future I'll experiment with other wax bases and even blend them together. I'll read, watch videos, learn, and blog. I fully intend on keeping you abreast of what it is that I'm doing. I can't always force my best friends to listen to me rant or go on and on about every little thing, but here you are listening!! Thank you!! I love you. You'll never realize how much I appreciate you watching and reading, sharing, caring, praying. Thank you. You're the best.

    To make a candle you start out with very basic supplies and by basic I mean really, it's not rocket science. Here is a list of the things you'll need -- or better, here is a list of the things I'm using right now. In the future I'll change a few things. I'll tell you all about that too.  Keep it simple. Keep it cheap. Keep it fun.  I'm assuming you'll want color and scent for your candles so I'm adding them to the things you need, but you really don't need them if you're just making candles for surviving or dinner or something where scent and color is not a big thing.  The color of the wax you buy is the color of the candle you'll make unless you add colorant.  

To calculate how much wax to use for a candle you take the amount of liquid you need to pour to make the number of candles you need (i.e. 5 candles at 8 ounces = 60 ounces) and you divide that by the number 20.  That tells you how many POUNDS you need to make the candles. In this scenario, 60 divided by 20 = 3 so you need 3 pounds. THIS IS NOT A METRIC MEASURE.

LIST OF THINGS YOU MAY NEED: (This is not a large batch maker)

quart size pan to boil the waterpour pot - stainless steel, mine is about 32 ounces stainless steel spoon that goes to the bottom of the potthermometer - I use the one with the steel tip (digital but you can use any type)Soy wax flakes (remember to do the calculation as to how much you need)Container - metal or glass preferredDrinking straw (cut it down to about 6")Wick holder -- clothes pin, stick with hole, paper with X cut out, metal plate with holesWick (I use the premade with wax that you buy online)Scent (I use 100% essential fragrance oil that says for candle making on the bottle)Colorant (not necessary, but makes it pretty. I use prepared chips I buy online)Superglue or same type product Wick holder  (I use small popsicle sticks with a bored hole, again, you can buy them online, or you can use clothes pins. I've seen people cut out circles with stiff paper and add an X in the center. you just need something to hold the wick in the air straight up while its being poured and hardening. This is important. The wick is sooooo important.OK, and yes, paper towels are always needed. I tend to buy any and every thing I find at the stores that are on sale and in big bulk. I make a lot of messes. Why not have fun, right? Besides, my house smells so great now from all the loose wax and soap I've poured all over the cabinets and kitchen floor.
DIRECTIONS TO MAKING CANDLES.
Set up your candle container first. Use a dot of Superglue in the center of the container (no paint at the bottom of the container). Stick the wick into a straw to have a better grip and you literally stick it to the Superglue spot. The wick MUST BE FLAT. You hold it for a second or two, and you lift the straw.  Let that sit before you move it.Pour water into the pot, enough to cover half of your melting pot. Bring to a near boil.Add enough wax to your melting pot using the calculation from above. I use flakes. Set the melting pot into the boiling water. BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURN YOURSELF. Use a hand mitt to pull the melting pot out of the boiling water. Don't be like me and grab the handle with your bare hand. Heat and stir the wax until it is completely melted. It should be around 140-150 degrees or so.Add the scent (about 1 tablespoon for each pound of liquid)Add the color (check your color product instructions. Mine are premeasured for 1 pound of liquid.)STIR and STIR  ( I also reduce the heat and often times I take the pot out of the water)Sometimes I even set the melting pot in the pan with cold water to bring the temperature down to around 130 before I pour it into the container.At around 130 degrees I pour the candle wax into the container. I pour it slowly and watch the wick to be sure it's not going to come out.Do not OVER pour. You want to be sure your stick or metal holder doesn't get wax on the bottom and mess up your pretty candle. Pour in just enough, but not to the top of your container.THIS IS IMPORTANT...leave the damn thing alone.  Don't mess with it until it is hardened.You're done.  Except now you have to clean everything.  This is where the paper towels come in to play.  If you used all of your wax, like you should, you only need to wipe out the steel pot. Don't pour extra wax down the drain. DAWN liquid soap helps to degrease the drain if you do, but you may consider using an anti-clogging agent once a month if you're going to do this for a hobby.  If you live in an apartment the landlord may not even want you to make candles. Just a hint. (draw your curtains) LOL
 When the candle is hardened (around 2 hours) you can cut the wick to size and tell your friends how awesome you are. Take photos, post them, and just say to yourself "Self, you're never buying another store bought candle EVER!"  You can literally make a candle that is about 8-10 ounces for around 80 or 90 cents. Why would you pay $26.00?  I mean sure, you have to buy a bunch of stuff to get to the point that making one candle may only cost you 80 cents, but it's fun, and you can make the extra money yourself and not have to deal with a scent you really don't like all that much. YOU get to decide what the scent is, and you can mix them, match them, have fun trying them all out. Your friends and family will think you are the best ever - - we can dream, right?  Have fun.
Photo Credit: Me