Lemon+Lavender Candles

Homemade candles are one of my favorite DIY gifts. They’re so easy to make, and add a personal touch of thoughtfulness that everyone really loves and appreciates. These lemon+lavender candles are perfect to give as a housewarming or birthday present, or as a little thank you to some of the special women in your life (mom, sisters, aunts, leaders of your women’s bible study). When gifting, I wrap the top of the candle in a pretty fabric and attach a handwritten note with a scripture on it. Below are a few of my favorite verses to use:

By making your own candles, instead of buying, you spend a lot less for a personalized, more thoughtful, and healthy gift. You’re probably asking yourself, “How can one candle be healthier then another candle? It’s not like I’m going to eat it?” Although we don’t eat candles, we do breathe them in and what we breathe in can effect the health of our bodies. To learn more about the dangers of store bought candles read this. When I learned that I was releasing dangerous chemicals in my home every time I lit a store bought candle, I decided to throw away all of my existing candles and start making my own safe to breathe candles.

Don’t be intimated, these lemon+lavender candles are pretty easy to make. All you need are a few simple ingredients: soy or beeswax, wood or cotton wicks, organic essential oils, and any container you might have, as long as it’s glass, tin, or ceramic. Just make sure not to use plastic, it will melt and be a disaster! Okay, let’s get started!

makes two 8 oz candles

What You’ll Need

• 2 glass containers (8oz each)
• 3 1/2 cups soy flakes
• 2 lead free wicks with a metal base
• hot glue gun
• organic lemon essential oil
• organic lavender essential oil
• candle pouring pot
• cookie cutter ot metal jar lid
• tape
• 2 clothespins
• 2 small towels
• newspaper or butcher paper
• twine
• 2 brown paper tags
• spoon to mix wax
• 1 wooden dowel or chopstick

Instructions

1. To cover up the surface you’re going to be working on, lay down some newspaper or butcher paper. I usually use whatever I have in my kitchen, sometimes that ends up being aluminum foil, wax paper, or a paper grocery store bag. Just use whatever you have; it makes clean up so much easier! Trust me, it’s not fun scraping dried wax off your counter tops!
2. Fill a small saucepan with 1 inch of water. Add an inexpensive cookie cutter or metal jar lid to the bottom of the pot, this will help distribute heat and prevent wax from reaching dangerous temperatures. Place pouring pot on top of cookie cutter or metal jar lid. Set burner to medium-low heat on stove. If you don’t have a pouring pot, you can make a double broiler with any heatproof glass container and saucepan. To make double broiler, fill a saucepan 1/4 full with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and fit heat proof bowl on top of the pan. The bottom of the bowl should not be touching the water. Although you can easily make a double broiler, I would highly recommend using a pouring pot, they are inexpensive and much easier to work with.
3. Pour wax flakes into pouring pot. Stir every minute or so. Make sure to never leave melting wax unattended!
4. While wax is melting, glue the metal base of your wick to the bottom of your containers with glue gun. Using a glue gun ensures that the wick is going to stay put when pouring the hot wax in.
5. Once the metal end is securely glued to the bottom of the jar, place a piece of tape on top of the opening of the jar. Straighten the wick and pin it to the piece of tape using a clothespin, the clothespin will rest on top of the tape.
6. As soon as all the wax is melted, remove from heat. Let the wax cool for two-three minutes. Slowly pour the wax into each jar. Add 20 drops of the lemon essential oil and 20 drops of the lavender essential oil to each candle. Gently stir the essential oils in the wax with a chopstick or any stirring tool you don’t mind wax getting on.
7. Wrap the jars in small towels and let set for 24 hours, until fully set. This prevents the wax from cooling too fast and from shrinking or cracking in the container. Once set, remove the clothespins and tape; trim top of wicks to 1 inch.
8. If gifting, handwrite your favorite scripture on a brown paper tag, slide it on the piece of twine and tie a bow.

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tips

• If you have sensitive skin, wear gloves while handling the essential oils or just make sure to wash hands immediately after working with them. They can cause a little rash when placed directly on skin.
• Buy your soy wax online for the best deal. Wax is insanely overpriced at craft stores. I learned this the hard and expensive way! Make sure to look for 100% soy wax flakes on the label.
• Once set, if the wax on top of the candle is cracked a little, you can use a blow dryer to easily remelt the top layer to make it smooth.