Candle Making Craft 4u

When you are making candles one point to remember is to trim the wicks correctly.  Keep candle wicks trimmed to 1/4″ and not less but not over 1/2″ or the canadle will smoke.

If you are having trouble with your candles smoking it is probablybecause the wicks are too long.

People think that keeping a long wick will give a higher flame, and this is true to a certain extent, but the do not realise that it does cause the candle to smoke and also the candle does not really burn as well.

Sometimes candles do smoke if they are caught in a wind, but again this is usually only if the wick is too long.

Interesting articles from the web

• Keep Spent Candles In Your Sock Drawer (apartmenttherapy.com)
• Letter Re: Building a Supply of Long-Burning Candles (survivalblog.com)

Treat your man on Valentine’s Day to a romantic evening with mood creating red shot glass candles made especially by you.  This is not a difficult project so here are the steps:

1.   Search around and find yourself some red candles – one 10” taper candle will do 3 shot glasses.

2.   Buy some wicks from a craft shop.

3.   If you do not have any shot glasses buy some from a shop – possibly your local liquor store would have some or a Bar retail shop.

4.   Break the candles into a metal jug.

5.  Place the slow cooker on a paper covered area (in case of splashes).  Put 1 ½” of boiling water in the bottom of the cooker and turn it on to 3.

6.  Stand the metal jug inside a slow cooker.  Put the lid on.  This will melt the wax and it cannot get overly hot because the water temperature can only reach 212°F.  When the wax is melted turn the cooker off and remove the jug.  It will be hot so use something to protect hands.  Cotton gloves or a cotton cloth should do the trick.

If you want to add a little candle making fragrance, add it before removing from the heat and stir in with the wire whisk.

(If you have not been able to get red candles you could at this stage add some red candle dye and carefully mix it in with a wire whisk.  Candle dye can be purchased from a craft shop or candle supply shop.)

7.  Have your shot glasses sitting on some layers of paper to catch spills and pour the wax into the glasses about ½” from the top.

8.  Measure your wicks and cut them so that they come about ½” above the wax.  As the wax is setting push the wick into the wax and make sure it stands up straight.

9.  When the wax is completely set trim the wick to about ¼” above the wax.

Melting wax in a slow cooker is a slower way of doing it than over a double boiler but it is one of the safest methods for someone who has not made candles before.  As a safety precaution it pays to have a chemical fire extinguisher on hand when melting wax and a wax thermometer.  Wax is a flammable product and this is why a slow cooker is so good because the temperature cannot rise too high.  But with wax there is always an unknown so that is why safety precautions should be taken

Enjoy your romantic evening!  

But hey, remember this same idea could be done with any colored candle and is a lovely way to dress up a dinner table, spa room or what ever you choose.

When running a home business it is imperative that you find something that can be unique to you and with candle making you could specialise in boxed candle sets for a candle making home business.  These are ideal for clients to buy as gifts.

Each home business owner needs to find something that is going to appeal to their customers.  If you are selling your products through a stall or as a wholesaler through a shop front, single candles are great but if you are selling online or in a party plan situation you could find that boxed candles are very popular.

Party Plan selling Read the rest of this entry »

Candle making molds add variety to your candle making home business projects

Starting a candle making home business is not a very expensive one to set up and that is a great plus when starting a new business.  The equipment needed is not expensive, the products are not expensive but where you can run into some expense is the candle making moulds.

In other blogs we have discussed the benefits of doing market research so that you have a good idea what will sell, but when you start out you may need to limit your range and use some very basic molds to start with.

It is possible to buy cheap glasses and use those for moulds and that way you recoup your cost as you sell the candle or you Read the rest of this entry »

How to work out your products for a candle making home business

One problem that all business owners face is to decide on the products that they should produce for a home business.

The larger the business the easier it is in some ways in that there are usually more outlets from which to get rid of slow selling products.

With a home business you are more restricted and also you don’t want to spend a lot of money on something that may be a slow seller or not sell at all.

So how can you test your market? Read the rest of this entry »

Here is another project that you might enjoy to make for Valentine’s Day.

Foil Candle

Using a pillar or square mold get some colored foil paper, scrunch it up and place it around the wick in the candle mold.  Bring this about 3/4 way up the candle and make sure it is pushed to the sides quite well so that it shows when the candle is set.  Pour the wax into the mold.    Use a skewer and gently manouevre the foil away from the wick so that it keeps burning nicely.

The foil makes a lovely effect as the candle burns down.  To even bring out the effect of the foil more, wrap a strip of foil around the outside of the candle to enhance the color effect.

Set up with a few red petals scattered around, a bottle of wine and have a great evening!

PS  The picture is not a foil candle but one that has little crystals pushed into it which also a lovely effect.

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Most people who think of having a candle making home based business would probably think that it would be making candles and selling them through one source or another.  But another idea which could be very good to have as a business or even as part of a candle making home business would be to take lessons in candle making.

For a person to do this they would need to be very organised and plan well how they were going to do it because candle making is dealing with a flamable product so all safety precautions would need to be in place.  It would also pay to have public liability insurance to protect yourself as well.

There are many techniques that can be shown even to children and it would be possible by using a crockpot for the wax melting to have a quite safe environment for this all to happen.

It definitely is something worth thinking about for those who may be inclined to run this type of business because it is another craft and a lot of people just love to learn different crafts.

Operating a candle making home business is such a wonderful way to combine a hobby and a business together.  I believe in doing what you ove for a home business so that you get up every morning and enjoy what you are doing.

Making candles for a home business requires some research and it is a good idea to do this before you start making too many candles.

What would you research:

• it would be a good idea to research what is selling in your area
• which are the most popular candles sold
• which designs are the most popular
• what colors are the ‘in’ colors – are they the decorator colors or the homeopathic colors
• what price range is the most popular
• the most popular scents Read the rest of this entry »

This is an embedded glass candle.  I have not used this technique but I imagine it would throw a wonderful light and reflections around the room.

This would be very similar to making an ice candle.  When putting the glass in the mold make sure that the wick is straight and that it is surrounded by a gap so that wax sets around the wick and the burn does not get interruped as it burns down.

Another technique that you may like to do is embed a photo in a candle.  This technique can be a wonderful way to give a present to a dear friend or family member.

Here is a wonderful technique that will be a little challenge but if you are reasonably experienced at candle making you should be able to get the result you want.  If you are not experienced see how you feel about it but either way this website is definitely worth a visit.