Candle making is a fun DIY project with endless possibilities: you can make your own mood lighting, home decor and luxury gifts, and personalise them with the perfect colour and a hand-selected fragrance. Level up your next dinner party centrepiece with column candles or make a gift tailored to the recipient. This guide will take you through the essentials of candle making and provide an easy step-by-step to help you get started on your new creative journey.

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The Candle Making Supplies You Need

First things first: you’re working with hot wax so preparation is key to help prevent any spills or burns. Make sure your equipment is laid out clearly. As an extra precaution, cover your surfaces with newspaper or rags and wear old clothing you don’t mind getting dirty.

What to Try 

Homemade Candles: Jars and Moulds

An assortment of candle making jars and moulds arranged neatly on a light blue surface. Products include tins, glass jars and silicone moulds.

Whether you make them as homemade gifts or as part of a fun crafternoon with friends, jar candles are easy to create and a simple way to get familiar with the candle making process. You can add more creative flair by customising the outside of the jar with ribbons, stickers and other fun embellishments. Once you’ve made your first candle and you’re familiar with the process, try making candles or wax melts in moulds for different shapes and sizes.

What to Try 

Hot Tip: Be sure to choose jars or moulds that are made to withstand the temperature of hot wax to avoid glass cracking or moulds melting when pouring the wax or lighting the candle.

Know Your Candle Wax Options

An assortment of candle making supplies arranged neatly on a light blue surface. Products include things like wax flakes, dye chips, fragrance drops and wicks.

The candle wax you choose impacts the scent and colour of your candle. For example, soy candle wax, a vegan soybean byproduct, is neutral in colour and scent, making it an ideal base for creating coloured or fragrant candles. Another popular candle wax is beeswax, which is derived from the honey-making process. Unrefined beeswax is typically honey coloured with a sweet aroma, making it a great standalone candle wax. You can also get white beeswax, which has been filtered to remove impurities like pollen.

You can also add colour to your melted wax with dye chips – a few chips will create a soft pastel while a heartier handful will give you a bold hue. Play around with multicoloured designs by dipping candles in different-coloured melted wax or layering colours in a jar, adding each new colour once the last colour has set. 

What to Try 

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Choose Your Candle Wick

You can personalise the look of your candle right down to the wick. A material wick offers a more classic finish while a wooden wick gives a more rustic vibe. If your jar is wider than 8cm, you’ll likely need more than one wick so the heat reaches the very edge of your candle to achieve an even melt. If not, this can cause the sides of the candle to remain solid as the heat from a single flame may not reach the edges. 

Hot Tip: Help keep your material wicks straight and secure by using glue dots and wick holders. These will ensure wicks stay steady when it comes to pouring the melted wax around them.

What to Try 

Create Scented Candles 

If you want to create an aroma to match your mood lighting, add a few drops of fragrance to the melted candle wax, from sweet vanilla and earthy cedarwood to classic florals. If you’re making a gift, enhancing it with fragrance is a special way to add a tailored touch. Try curating your own perfume and blend complementary scents together. 

‍What to Try 

‍How to Make a Jar Candle

A series of images demonstrating how to set up a wick. They show an overhead view of two hands using a brown glass jar, a wick and wooden craft stick, on a blue background.

Step 1: Clean your jar to ensure there’s no dust or residue inside or out (especially important if you’re using a clear jar). Make sure it’s completely dry before pouring your wax.

Step 2: Secure your wick using a glue dot at the bottom of the jar to ensure it stays in the middle. Wrap the top of it around a wick holder, resting the stick on the rim of the jar. Ensuring your wick is in the centre of your jar will mean the wax melts evenly when the wick is lit.

A series of images demonstrating how to melt wax. They show an overhead view of two hands using a saucepan, a melting pot and wax flakes, on a blue background.

Step 3: On a stove, create a double boiler setup using a household saucepan and your melting pot. Fill your saucepan halfway with water and bring to a gentle boil. Place your wax flakes in the melting bowl and then the melting bowl over the saucepan. Using a designated wooden spoon, gently stir occasionally until all the wax flakes have completely melted. Once your wax has fully melted, turn off the heat.

Hot Tip: Use a thermometer to keep an eye on the wax temperature as it melts. Overheating wax can cause it to separate or thin out too much, leading to setting issues. Different types of waxes have different flashpoints and optimal melting temperatures, so check the packaging or manufacturer’s website for recommended use instructions. For soy wax candle making, a temperature of around 85°C is generally recommended, while a melting point of about 62°C is usually suggested when working with beeswax.  

A series of images demonstrating how to add fragrance and dye to melted wax. They show an overhead view of two hands using fragrance drops and dye chips, on a blue background.

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Optional: Once your wax is melted and your heat is turned off, you can incorporate colour dye chips or use the provided dropper to add fragrance. When adding dye chips, stir them around until fully dissolved. The colour will change as the candle sets.  

A series of images demonstrating how to pour melted wax into a jar for setting. They show an overhead view of two hands using a melting pot and brown glass jar, on a blue background.

Step 4: Using the spout of the melting pot, slowly pour your melted wax into the jar, being careful not to get any wax up the sides. Stop three quarters of the way up the jar and leave to set for 45 minutes, or until the wax starts turning opaque. 

Step 5: During this time, any air bubbles in the wax will release and some sinkage will occur. Once slightly set and opaque, pour in the remaining wax and leave at least one centimetre from the rim. This will help give it a smooth and even top. Leave to set for 24 hours or until the wax has completely set.

A series of images demonstrating how to use leftover melted wax. They show an overhead view of two hands using a melting pot, small candle tins and silicone moulds, on a blue background.

Hot Tip: If you have wax left over, use it to make smaller candles or wax melts, or pour the remains into a bowl of water and leave to set. Remove the disc of wax, leave to dry and break apart to use for more candle making later on.

Step 6: Once your candles have completely set, unravel your wick holders and save them for your next candle making session. Finish off your candle by trimming the excess of the wick.

Hot Tip: Making a candle creation for someone? Go the extra mile and design custom labels or stickers for some extra flair. Add your recipient’s name or the candle’s fragrance to make it feel extra special.

Always consult the packaging of candle making products to ensure proper usage and optimal results.

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