Candle Making Craft 4u

Candle making is such fun and so inventive with all the colors scents and various shapes you can make.  Many people will use all sorts of candle moulds to make their candles even more interesting.   If you have a candle making home business you may be pushed for time to get too inventive with your candle making, but during times leading up to special occasions during the year it is fun to break out and make a few different ones.

As we know, melting your wax if items don’t sell is so easy.  So much better than cutting up a dress that doesn’t sell, isn’t it?!

There are just so many things you can use:

• all sorts of moulds from the kitchen
• items from the garage Read the rest of this entry »

The V-shaped ice candle

Unfortunately I don’t have a picture now, but one candle with a difference that I loved was the V-shaped ice candle.  The bottom of the V became the top of the candle when it was taken out of the mold.  I do wish I had a photo because I would love to put it up for you to see.  Start with a light colored wax at the tip and as you build the candle change to a darker color so that when you turn the candle over the darker shade is at the bottom.

One problem that you have to sort out using a V-shaped candle mould is that you need to support the mold until the wax is set.  Putting the mold into something like a cut off milk carton works well.

Don’t forget to make sure the wick is coated in wax.

If you try this let me know how you got on.  PS.  If you want to make it even more different, once you have the candle out of the mold you can dribble wax down it as well.   Looks cool!  I always used to use various shades of pink candle wax (dyed), blue or purple, but even mixing colors like green and purple look fantastic.

These candles look so cool that you can leave it as an unscented candle too because everyone will be blown away by the effect of the candle.

For a home based candle maker to make money selling at craft shows there are a few basics that need to be in place.  I would not display my candles like the ones in the picture. It would look much more attractive if there were half the candles were displayed with some space in between each grouping to show off each group to its maximum.  This display just looks like it has been thrown together to get the candles out of the carrying boxes.

A good burn means repeat business

One of the most important aspects that make selling candes or any craft successful is that it must be of good quality.  As far as candles are concerned the most important thing for repeat business is a good burn to the candle.  This is not an obvious feature to the buyer at the show, but if you want repeat business then a good burn and a good scent throw, if you have scents in the candle, are important.

Candle colors Read the rest of this entry »

Keeping the wick straight when candle making is important for a good burn.  It really is not so difficult to do.

When you have your mold and you have attached the wick at the bottom, take the length of the wick up through the centre of the mold and wrap it around a flat pencil or chop stick until the wick is taught.  You can leave the wick like this while the candle sets, then cut it to length afterwards.

When you have a home candle making business it is important that these tricks are learnt so that your candles are of an exceptional quality all of the time.

Ice candles are so easy to make, although they do look difficult and can really be quite stunning.  In the early days of making candles, ice candles are one of the easiest types of candles to make successfully as long as you take care with making sure that the wick is surrounded by wax to ensure a good burn.

HINT: The easiest way to do this is either dip a wick in some wax several times so that it is covered with sufficient wax, or use a tapered candles for the wick.

Tips for making the candle:

• use clean washed and dried paper milk cartons
• measure sufficient wax for about half the carton
• melt your wax in a double boiler or set a pyrex jug of wax in a slow cooker on low Read the rest of this entry »

Working with candle wax can, as we know, be a dangerous product to work with if not handled correctly.  Candle making is a great hobby but one that does need safety measures.   When you are making your candles don’t wear floppy, very loose clothing as it may catch on a pot handle, spoon handle, on a mold or any other item that is hold hot wax.

Wear clothing that is loose, like a t-shirt, so that if you splash wax on it the shirt will not be clinging to your skin.

Safety with hot wax

On your skin

Immediately run under cold water and put some ice on it as soon as possible to set the wax and cool it, Read the rest of this entry »

When selling any item one very important factor is to make sure that it is displayed well.  It does not matter whether the item is a candle or an item of clothing, no matter how lovely the item is, if it is not display well then the chances of selling it are much less limited.

How to display your candles for selling

Candles are one item that does sell on its own in a lot of cases, especially the bigger ones, so they can be displayed in groupings of style and/or color.  Keep the taller ones further away from the customer and bring down the sizing but in such a way that even the taller ones get a good viewing.  This may mean that you need to prop the back candles up even higher so that they can be seen and admired properly.

Once you have grouped your candles together, use some items like towels, soaps or flowers.   Create a theme with your display.  It may be a seaside theme, a dining theme, a spa bath theme or whatever, but set it up in such a way that you tell your customer that this is the way you could use these candles.

If you do not have a lot of room you just might set up a themed area and have the candles grouped together nearby rather than a large display.

Selling packaged candles

You may decide to sell your candles in sets and to do this they would need to be packaged in groups of say 3’s or 6’s depending on what it is you are selling and on the final retail price.  Do keep Read the rest of this entry »

When setting yourself up to have a candle making business extend yourself so that you come up with original ideas.  Candle making is so much fun and there are so many ways that you can make original pieces on which to build your candle making business reputation.

Search around, see what other people are doing, explore different ways of making innovative candles and have fun.  Here is a link to see some really cool candle ideas.

One point to remember is to perfect one candle style first before you try another.  You may Read the rest of this entry »

So that a candle has a good burn right through it is important that the wick is straight but that does not happen on its own so you need to take precautions that the wick does stay straight when you have made your candle.  Wind the wick around the stick and it will hold firm.

Here are several items that you can use to secure the wick at the top of the mold:

• on a smaller mold, an ice block stick
• a chop stick
• a pencil with flat sides – a builders pencil Read the rest of this entry »

Now that Valentine’s Day is over we can focus on Easter candle making projects.

How did your Valentine’s Day candles go?  I hope you had a lovely day!

There is no surprise that when it comes to Easter we think of eggs!  Of course we do.  So how can you make Easter candles?

Personally I feel that the best way is to buy an egg mold and make your candle that way.

I know several people who like to mold their egg candles and they do this by making a layer of melted wax in tray first and when the wax is still a little soft they hand mold it into an egg shape then push their wick through.

Decorating your egg candles Read the rest of this entry »