DIY Soy Candle Making

I have been buying and burning candles for years.  I love the ambience they create and the amazing fragrance that fills the room while they're burning and often, even when they're not burning, their beautiful scent lingers on. I probably buy too many candles but I like to light them most nights so I go through quite a few.  I recently attended a fabulous workshop at Clean Slate in Perth where I learnt how to make my own candles and was surprised to learn they are relatively simple to make but equally surprised to learn of a couple of things that can affect the quality of your candle.  According to my workshop, the size and quality of the wick and the way in which you pour the melted wax into your vessel, can make or break your candle. I would've thought it was the wax and wax alone that was the difference between a fabulous candle and a bad one - but it seems not.  

Shortly after my workshop, Crafty Candle Supplies contacted me, which was purely coincidental, and asked if I would like to test-drive their DIY Candle Making Kits.  Would I ever?  The timing was impeccable and I grew even more excited when I checked out their beautiful website filled with all things needed to make your own candles, including a variety of gorgeous vessels and top quality Ecosoya Wax (Ecosoya wax is free from pesticides and herbicides, contains no genetically modified material, is manufactured using pure soy beans and contains no harmful additives.  It is manufactured according to sustainability and renewable resource management and it cleans up in hot soapy water eliminating the need for harsh solvents). 

The kit was delivered by courier not long after and I was just as excited by the gorgeous timber box it arrived in as I was about the contents.  I read the very clear instructions (with photos included - they always help!) and got to work.  I had decided to experiment with essential oils, rather than fragrance, because I have read that some fragrances can be toxic in your household and for the past few years, although I still do buy scented soy candles, I have been trying to lessen the toxic load around our house.  During my workshop, I asked about using essential oils instead of fragrance and I was advised to double the wick size and that the scent would be much more subtle - which I am completely okay with.  The wicks that came with my kit were the standard size needed for a normal scented candle but when I contacted Crafty Candle Supplies asking to purchase a couple of larger wicks they immediately posted two out to me without charge. They were so accommodating and eager for me to let them know how I go experimenting with the oils - I was very impressed by their service and their obvious passion for what they do.


So, down to the nitty gritty.  Here's how it went.

The supplies (and the lid of the beautiful box)

Melting the wax

Checking the temperature - needs to be between 70 and 80 degrees celsius

While the wax is melting, prepare your vessels. The wicks are easily attached using the supplied wick stickums.

Wicks are in, centred and held in place with little popstick thingeys

Use the supplied measuring jug to gently and evenly pour the wax into your vessel.  Before pouring it into your vessel, add your oil or fragrance if using - gently stirring it in.  I added roughly 15 drops of essential oil - I may adjust this next time, depending on the strength of the scent.

Poured and ready.

Once poured, pop in a tray and move somewhere safe to set for 24 hours (sorry for the dodgy baking tray - I just grabbed the first thing in the cupboard!).  Once set, trim the wicks to 0.5cm and affix the supplied warning labels to the underneath of your vessel.  And you're done.

And there she is - all comfortable at my parents' house

Look at that flame - all relaxed and perfect. Sometimes an "angry" or "dancing" flame can be due to a bad quality wick or incorrect wick size.

And here's mine - sitting pretty amongst my collection.  How cute are the hammered copper tins?

So, if you are just starting out with candle-making I would highly recommend taking a workshop or ordering a Starter Kit from Crafty Candle Supplies. Their site is full of candle-making wonderfulness and each kit comes fully supplied including comprehensive instructions - way better than mine above.

What are you waiting for? Go get your order in, and let me know how they turn out.  I bet they'll be fabulous!

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DIY Hoop Mobile

My daughter has been asking for a mobile above her bed for about a year now.  Trouble is, she's five years old and most of the mobiles on sale are for babies and not really suitable for a "big girl" room.  So, because I'm a try-hard "Martha", we set about making our own.  I had wanted to use some of her old baby clothes for something creative - instead of giving them away or shoving them in a box never to be looked at again - and at first I thought I would use them in a quilt for her but then I quickly realized that because I'm not a very good hoarder (i.e not very sentimental when it comes to clothes), I didn't have enough for a decent sized quilt.  I did, however, have enough to use in a mobile.  And so the Hoop Mobile was born! 

I started cutting up her clothes (which was surprisingly hard for me to do) before I had checked that my mobile idea would even work.  I was actually very nervous because it could've easily gone a bit pear-shaped and then I'd be left with no clothes, no mobile and bits of baby clothes everywhere!  And I really had no idea what I was doing - I just added fabric to various shaped embroidery hoops (which I bought online from Etsy), strung them together randomly (there was no measuring or accuracy involved at all) using white embroidery floss and then tied the completed lengths to two bits of dowel that I'd painted white and tied together.  It took a bit of jiggling and jaggling (I'm sure that's a word) to get the mobile balanced once hung but because everything was just knotted on, it was easy to slide the string wherever it needed to be to get it sitting right.  

Thankfully, it came to together just how I had imagined it would (this quite often doesn't happen), which delighted both me and my daughter.  Phew.  I didn't take any photos during "construction" (in the back of my mind I must've thought it wasn't going to work!) but here it is - in all its cuteness ...

Ah, embroidery hoops - I love them.  Have you ever used them for something other than embroidering?