Ready to learn how to make essential oil candles?
We are so excited to share this fun activity with you!
We did not actually set out to write a blog post on candle making. We were really just thinking that making candles would make a sweet Christmas gift for neighbors. Fortunately, we were inspired to start early because we had no idea how much we had to learn!
We decided to write this post to save you time if making candles is something that sounds fun to you. While normally at Sparkles and Sprinkles we are all about your own creativity, this post will give you very specific information on making very specific candles… in the hopes that you won’t have to go through many wasted candles like we did.
This post tells a bit about our candle making journey and provides clickable links for supplies. You can find our printable guide to essential oil candle making on Etsy.
Luckily our “wasted” candles did not go to waste. We made some of them into a sweet little Advent wreath (and we will probably have enough to keep doing this for a few more years to use all of the candles… yes, we messed up that many!).
We are frequent users of essential oil diffusers*, and we know our favorite essential oil combinations, so we thought it would be as easy as melting wax and mixing in our favorite combinations of essential oils. But this was not the case.
The first candles we made looked beautiful, and smelled beautiful before they were lit, but once lit, they had almost no scent throw and some of them actually smelled bad while burning. Did you know some essential oils can’t be used in candles, according to candlescience.com?
(*If you are mostly looking for a beautiful and natural scent in your home, we recommend using an essential oil diffuser – it is so easy to add a few drops of oil and change the scent on a whim. But if you are looking for the ambiance of candles or a thoughtful gift to give, read on… We are sharing a plan that should make essential oil candle making fun and easy for the whole family!)
Recipes we love…
Here are our favorite recipes to make delightful candles for all seasons. Please read the entire post for specific directions on how to make the candles (it’s not quite as simple as melting wax and mixing in oils, but don’t worry, our printable eBook on Etsy gives step by step directions to make it a joy!).
Sunshine and Happiness
A delightful candle for spring and summer, with notes of lemon and lavender and a touch of sweet vanilla.
3 oz. soy/coconut wax beads (measured by weight)
3/4 tsp. lavender essential oil
1/4 tsp. vanilla essential oil
1/2 tsp. lemon essential oil
Autumn Joy
A warm and spicy candles that works well for autumn and even into the winter months.
3 oz. soy/coconut wax beads (measured by weight)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon cassia essential oil
1/2 tsp. clove essential oil
1/2 tsp. petitgrain essential oil (a citrus scent)
Merry Christmas!
An evergreen forest, sparkling snowfall, and candy cane delights in one sweet candle. Perfect for gift giving!
3 oz. soy/coconut wax beads (measured by weight)
1 tsp. balsam fir essential oil
1/2 tsp. peppermint essential oil
Do you want to make all natural essential oil candles too?
We have a plan to make candle making a delight for the whole family!
Get our candle making eBook on Etsy…
***Please note that that candle making might be best for older children and adults. The hot wax and the essential oils that may sting the skin and eyes make it a little tricky (risky) for young children. However, younger children can be great helpers with some parts… attaching the wick to the base of the candle containers and/or helping to stick labels on to candle covers when the candles have cooled.***
What you will need…
Below you will see a detailed explanation of the specific supplies you’ll need. But we have created a simplified shopping list so you can see everything in one place. It is a long list, but once you have your supplies, making candles is really relaxing and fun for the whole family.
Candle making shopping list:
- Freedom coconut/soy wax beads
- Small food scale for measuring ounces
- Thermometer and pot clip
- Glass measuring cup
- Long-handled stirring spoons
- 4 oz. Ball glass jars or 4 oz. candle tins
- Size 8 Eco wicks
- Wick stickers
- Wick holders for centering the wicks
- Measuring spoons
- 2 1/4″ circle punch
- Cardstock
- Glue sticks
- Warning labels
- Essential oils according the the recipes you choose (lemon, lavender, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, petitgrain, fir, peppermint)
Supply details…
Freedom Organic Coconut Soy Wax Blend
This soy/coconut wax makes beautifully smooth candles, and can be melted in the microwave to make candle making even easier. Coconut/soy wax allows the essential oil scents to shine through. (On our first attempts, we tried beeswax, which itself has a powerful smell, so it does not work well with essential oils.) One 5 lb. bag of wax should make about 25 candles using our recipes (3 oz. of wax per candle).
Small food scale
To measure the right amount of wax beads, you’ll need a food scale. (We could not find our particular scale for sale at the moment, so we have provided an alternative link.)
Thermometer
Essential oils need to be mixed in at 185 degrees F, so you’ll need a thermometer. It does not work to just see that the wax is melted. We did not have a pot clip for our thermometer, but it would be helpful to have one to hold the thermometer in place.
Glass measuring cup
To melt the wax in the microwave, you’ll need a glass measuring cup (probably one that becomes exclusively for candle making, as cleaning it might be difficult). We got a few glass measuring cups so that we had one for each different candle scent combination we made.
Protected surface and potholders
You’ll want to have a protected surface on which to set your candle making supplies – hot wax can splatter even if you are being very careful. A large piece of cardboard works well (then you can throw it away when you are done). You’ll also need potholders to take the hot measuring cup out of the microwave each time.
Long-handled stirring spoons
It’s not so easy to get wax off of spoons, so we found it was best to get spoons with long handles just for our candle making.
4 oz. candle jars or tins
We used both 4 oz. Ball Mason glass jars and 4 oz. candle tins. Both work well, depending on the look you love. If you might be transporting or mailing the candles, a tin would obviously be less breakable, but the glass jars look especially lovely when lit and seem to be quite sturdy as well.
Eco wick size 8
Wow! Who knew there were so many different types and sizes of wicks. Some wicks make the essential oil candles smell bad, and some wicks are too small or too big to make the wax melt correctly. We finally found that this wick (Eco wick size 8) is the perfect one to make the wax in a 4 oz. container melt perfectly, without leaving a ring of unburned wax (see photo above), and without getting too hot. The scent throw with this wick is great too!
Wick stickers
To attach the base of the wick to the base of your candle containers, you’ll need wick stickers. With guidance, placing the wick stickers and sticking on the wicks is a fun activity for young children (perhaps ages 4 to 5) who want to join in the candle making fun, but stay away from the hot wax.
Wick holders
To keep the wicks staying centered and tall, you’ll need wick holders. Getting a multipack is a good idea if you want to make more than one candle at a time (you’ll need to keep the wick holder in place for about a day until the wax has completely hardened).
Essential oils
In the recipes above (and in our printable guide) you’ll find a few essential oil combinations we have found to work well. The quantities of oil and the types of oils are quite particular with candles, so we are sharing some recipes that we have found to work, after lots of trial and error. Be sure to use good quality essential oils. We like the Now brand – it tends to be good quality at a moderate price: lemon, lavender, vanilla, cinnamon bark, clove, petitgrain, fir, peppermint
(When calculating how much oil to buy, consider that a 1 oz. bottle of essential oil provides about 6 U.S. teaspoons of essential oil.)
Teaspoon set
We measure our essential oils using 1/4, 1/2 and 1 teaspoon spoons.
Labels and Cardstock
We used Canva to make some sweet labels for our candles. You can find our printable labels on Etsy… or enjoy making your own by hand or with Canva (Canva is so much fun!). While you could get stickers to print your candle labels, we chose to use cardstock, cut with a circle punch and glued on to the cover of the candle container. Gluing on the labels allows them to be repositioned more easily than with stickers. (Our eBook on Etsy does have a printable sticker option set up for Avery circle stickers, but we think cardstock and circle punch works better.)
Circle Punch
To cut the perfect circle label, we recommend this 2 1/4″ circle punch. Once we bought this, we have found so many other fun projects to use it for as well. See our video on how easy (and fun!) it is to use.
Gluestick
Gluing on the labels is another fun way for younger children to participate in the candle making project.
Candle warning labels
Funny fact – I sent one of these candles to my sister, without letting her know that I had made it. It had a “handmade with love” label on the top, but when she saw the warning label on the bottom, she was confused and decided not to light the candle, thinking “Who knows what the real story of this candle is.” Luckily it eventually came up in conversation that I had made the candle, and she happily lit it. Whether or not to use these warning labels is up to you (I did not realize that they might make people think that the candles are not homemade), but one important thing they list is that the wick needs to be kept trimmed short – this actually helps the candle smell better when burned. Our eBook on Etsy also has printable safety labels that look more homemade – so as not to confuse the candle recipient. To punch out our safety labels in the eBook, you’ll need 1″ circle punch too. (The eBook also has gifting info cards that can but tucked in with a gifted candle, rather than placing a safety label on the bottom of the candle. These can be cut out with scissors or a paper cutter.)
How to make the candles – step-by-step…
Ready to get our printable step-by-step guide with visuals for each step and printable labels? Click here to find it on Etsy.
Happy candle making!
P.S. We like to pair activities with reading here at Sparkles and Sprinkles. May we suggest some lovely books about Saint Hildegard to accompany your candle making journey? A picture book for children by Demi and some spiritual reflections called Let There Be Light. ENJOY!
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