I hope you’re enjoying the (slightly) better weather to make some summery candles. We’re working on some new special offers for May and to make some space we’re offering a Spring Clean Sale – get 20% Off EVERYTHING in the shop (except products in our Special Offers category).

Please use the voucher code “SPRINGCLEAN” during checkout to get your 20% discount – 1 order per customer. This code will only work 100 times overall so please make sure you get your order in quickly if you want to use it. And if you’ve bought from us twice before, you get an automatic 5% discount on every subsequent order – on top of any other discounts!

Happy candlemaking!

Love is in the air, and we’re all fixed for a romantic night in here at Making Your Own Candles! We picked up some silicone moulds, intended for making cupcakes and ice cubes in, from our local £1 shop and made cute little heart shaped candles in them. 200g blended paraffin wax made 2 larger and 12 small candles. We used a blend of 2g Windsor red dye and 0.5g Plum Purple to create a warm rich red colour, and we scented our candles with a rich Cherry scent.

An alternative if you prefer a container candle, would be to use our lovely little range of heart shaped tins to make some candles in – our Pro-C container wax will give you excellent results! And when you have burned your candles, you can refill the tins in time for your Anniversary celebrations!!

Here’s what I used;

• 200g blended paraffin wax
• 3g dye
• 10ml scent
• Wick and Tab assemblies for tealight candles
• Heart shaped silicone cupcake case and ice cube tray

Here’s how I made the candles;

1. Wash silicone moulds
2. Melt 200g blended paraffin wax in a double saucepan
3. Add 3g dye and stir
4. When the wax is fully melted, add scent and stir
5. Switch off the heat and pour your wax into the moulds slowly and carefully – remember with a small mould the wax will fill the space available very very quickly!
6. Position a tealight wick and tab assembly in the centre of each candle soon after pouring the wax and allow to set.
7. When the candles are fully set, gently remove them from the moulds and arrange on a suitable plate or tray to burn.

Happy Valentines!

We’re delighted to announce that our book “Your Craft Business: Step by Step” has just been published and is available on Amazon. Written for the UK market by Kevin Partner of MakingYourOwnCandles.co.uk,  this book provides practical, detailed advice and a series of milestones to get your craft business off the ground. It also includes extensive case studies from other successful craft businesses.
The book covers:

• What you need to know about how business works
• How to come up with, and test, your product range
• 3 methods for working out the right price and why you should never compete to be the cheapest
• Plain English guidance on dealing with HMRC and other government bodies – including direct links to the resources and forms you need and advice on companies, tax, regulation, accounting and insurance
• Setting up at home – including specific advice on equipment and software
• Online marketplaces, including eBay and Amazon
• Top tips for success at Craft Fairs
• Your website
• How to promote your business and bring in the customers – online and in the real world
• The seven secrets of success.

Creating a successful craft business is not rocket science but, to do it successfully, there are certain things you must know. This book captures the lessons learned since starting MakingYourOwnCandles, along with the experiences of other British craft businesses- both long established and recently set up. If you’re looking for the nitty-gritty, this is the book for you.”

Kev and I started MakingYourOwnCandles.co.uk almost exactly three years ago, and, since then, we’ve built it into a profitable business whilst still being run entirely by the two of us and we absolutely love it!

We were chatting the other day and realised how much we’ve learned over those three years, so we’re planning to write a book on it.*

And we need your help!

If you’re interested in starting your own craft business at home, then we’d like to know what your main questions are. If you’re already selling craft items, then we’re really interested to know what you’ve learned.

Either way, please click this link to complete a 3 question survey.

Everyone who completes the survey will get a FREE e-copy of the book (suitable for viewing on your computer, mobile or Kindle) once written as a thank-you.

So, if you want a free copy of a book written by people who really know how to do it, help us out by completing the survey – it’ll only take a few minutes.

IMPORTANT

The survey will be taken down in September once we’ve reached our target so please don’t wait, we’d love to hear from you.

Thanks very much,

Peta Partner
MakingYourOwnCandles.co.uk

* You may not know, but Kev is an editor of PC Pro magazine, writing about Online Business, and he’s also the author of the top selling book “How to set up an online business” so he knows about business and how to get books written and published!

We’ve been tidying the shop ahead of the rush as “you know what” looms over the horizon from September onwards. Our main aim is to make it easier for you to order what you want without having to mess around too much – and also, most importantly, to introduce discounts for ordering larger quantities of our materials.

We did this for scents a couple of months ago – you can now order larger quantities at BIG discounts from within the page of each scent.

Waxes

We’ve updated the Container Wax, Blended Paraffin Wax and EcoSoya Wax products to offer discounts for ordering larger quantities – the base price for each of these remains for the 500g quantity but you can now order more from the dropdown box and save up to 20%

We’ve also permanently reduced the price for our EcoSoya Wax

Wicks

You can now buy wicks on their own without having to buy them as part of a kit or refill. We stock wicks for both paraffin wax and Soya wax – all tested by us. These come with FREE Shipping along with discounts for ordering larger quantities.

Pillar Candles

We’ve now added options to both the Pillar Candle kit and Bulk Pillar Candle kit so that you can specify a dye and scent for your candles at a discount over buying them separately.

Last month we used a “health salts” container (so very middle aged!) to make a lovely chunky candle and decorated it with applique stars. We’re really keen on recycling household objects to use for candle making so the next step was, naturally enough, to step up to a Pringles tube. For ages, we’ve been looking for a way for you to create big candles to use, for example, as table decorations, without having to spend £20 on a mould so I spent a happy afternoon in the lab working out whether Pringles really are the answer.

Rather than just create a single colour candle, I wanted to make one with a graded colour that went from lighter at the top to darker at the bottom as you can see in the photo. In fact, I’d have liked a bigger contrast so, next time I’ll do things a little differently.

Here’s what I used:

• 700g Blended Paraffin Wax
• 7g Dye
• LX16 Wick
• Pringles tube – carefully washed and dried
• Blutack
• Drill
• Wick holder
• Masking tape

Video from the labs

Procedure (photos numbered by step below)

1. Start by applying a little masking tape to the sealed end of the Pringles tube, marking the centre point, then drill a hole large enough for the wick to pass through. You might like to try using a skewer or some other method but be careful!
2. Cut the tube to just above the level you want to achieve – in this case 8 inches. This is because the tube has a lip at the open end which can make removing the candle difficult and making the mould shorter means it’s easier to get your fingers into the end to thread the wick.
3. Pass the wick through the hole and out of the open end, sealing carefully with blutack.
4. Divide your wax into 3 x 150g portions and one of 250g
5. Divide your dye into 4 portions. To get the graded effect, you need to split the dye into chunks of varying size – put around half of it in the 250g portion and only a tiny amount in one of the others then take the remaining dye a add 1/3  to one of the remaining portions and 2/3 to the last one. Remember this is a craft, not a science, so feel free to improvise!
6. Get the first (lightest) portion melted as the first pour will be the top of the candle.
7. Put the mould on a baking tray or similar in case you haven’t properly sealed the end
8. Pour the melted wax into the bottom of the mould.
9. Straighten and tighten the wick, use a bit of blutack to secure it
10. Melt the next portion of wax + dye
11. When a skin has formed on the wax in the mould, break a few holes in it so the two pours will mix a little
12. Pour the second portion of wax into the mould
13. Repeat for the third portion
14. Once you’ve made the third pouring, you need to warm up the final 250g of wax/dye
15. When a skin has formed, pour around 2 thirds of the wax into the mould, leaving around 100g in the saucepan
16. Wait for a couple of hours (once the skin has formed you can pop it in the fridge)
17. You will see a dip around the wick at the open end where the wax has shrunk
18. Warm up your remaining wax and fill the cylinder
19. Again, once a skin has formed, pop it in the fridge.
20. Leave it a couple more hours until it feels cool all over and then carefully cut away the Pringles tube
21. Rub down your candle with a warmed paper towel or cloth soaked in hot water and rung out.

 Pictures

INCLUDES FREE REFILL

Make 2 flavours of candle with one kit!

This kit contains everything you need (except basic kitchen equipment) to make 10 scented and coloured votive candles with up to 15 hours burn time each. You can then reuse the moulds to make further candles using our low-cost refill kit.

Whichever you select, you can look forward to a home filled with a pleasant, relaxing aroma from a candle with a gentle, warm flame.

What’s different about our kits?

We’ve developed these kits by using them to create candles ourselves. Because of this, we know that all of our kits work reliably in the real world, producing excellent, consistent, results whilst being easy for beginners to use.

Our kits are not mass-manufactured, plastic toy kits: this is real candle-making equipment and ingredients aimed at people who want to learn how to do it properly. They also make the ideal gift to introduce a loved one to the creative world of candle making.

Unlike any other supplier, we include beeswax in our kits because this hardens your candles and makes them burn longer. It also makes the scent of the candle a little sweeter. Just add 10% beeswax to your paraffin wax to get the ideal mixture.

Click here to see the instructions we include with our kits.

Each kit contains:

• 2 x metal moulds
• 450g Blended Paraffin Wax
• 50g Beeswax (hardens your candles and makes them burn longer)
• 1.5m Wick (plenty to spare in case you want to experiment)
• 12 metal tabs (for fixing the wick to the bottom of the mould: includes 2 spares)
• Pipette for measuring scent oil
• Wick pins for keeping the wick straight while the wax dries
• Blutack for sticking the wick to the wick pins
• 2 x Glass votive holders
• 2 x candle dye: Chocolate and Cream
  
• 2 x Scented Oil: Chocolate and Vanilla
  
• A Candlemaking thermometer for precise measurement
• Full illustrated instructions

What’s the difference between this and the Professional kit?

This kit includes 2 candle dyes and 2 scents so you can make a combination of variations. There is plenty of each to enable you to go on and make another ten candles just by buying some more wax, wicks and tabs.

The kit also includes a candlemaking thermometer so you can get the temperature exactly right for perfect results and 2 glass votive holders to display your finished creations.

FREE REFILL CONTAINS 450G PARAFFIN WAX, 50G BEESWAX, 1.5M WICK, 12 TABS. THIS REFILL MEANS THAT 20 VOTIVE CANDLES CAN BE MADE WITH THE CONTENTS OF THE DELUXE KIT.

This kit is packaged in a brown box containing fuschia tissue paper

Click here to see our despatch and delivery policy

Questions? Email us at peta@makingyourowncandles.co.uk

Article source: http://www.makingyourowncandles.co.uk/deluxe-candle-making-kit-chocolate-and-vanilla-free-refill/

These gorgeous applique candles are made from soy candle wax with separately made decoration. We’ve found that some food containers make excellent disposable moulds – especially those with “metallic” surfaces inside, for example Pringle containers. The container must be cardboard based, not plastic, but you should find you can use it several times. A good indication that the tube can be used is if it has a metal bottom. Here, we’re using a “health salts” container to produce a candle with a 7cm diameter and 6.5cm height.

What You Need

Ingredients

• A suitable food container – we’re using an old “health salts” container we got from Wilkinsons. In general, those that work best have an impermeable inner lining designed for keeping the food inside absolutely dry. You could try cutting a Pringles tube to around the same height (6.5cm).
• 275g EcoSoya PB wax (vary the quantities if you use a different sized mould)
• 100g Container wax (for best results – or you can try the EcoSoya)
• 1-2g dye
• ECO10 Wick (again, dependent on the width of the mould)
• Wick stick or pencil
• Optional: Scent
• Some blutack or whitetack or similar

…and this is the required equipment

• Double boiler arrangement or two saucepans, one smaller than the other
• Baking tray and greaseproof paper
• Food or craft cutters
• Spatula
• - remember you can’t use any of these for food preparation after this!

How to do it

Making the candle

1. Rinse out and dry the mould
2. Drill a small hole in the bottom of the mould – just big enough to pass the wick through
3. Push the wick through the hole and seal with blutack
4. Fix the wick to a wick stick or pencil to pull it tight centrally
5. Melt the EcoSoya wax in your double boiler. Remember, never use direct heat
6. Add scent, if you’re using it
7. Pour the wax into the mould – you might want to stand the mould in some sort of protective container in case of spillages
8. You can now get on with making the decorations

Making the applique sheets

1. Line the baking sheet with greaseproof paper, leaving enough around the edges so you can raise them
2. Melt the container wax in your double boiler. We’re using container wax because it’s softer than pillar blends and therefore less likely to crack when you apply it
3. Add the dye and stir until it’s fully melted
4. Pour the wax over the greaseproof paper until it’s the required depth, err on the side of having it thinner rather than thicker but you’ll probably find, unless you have a very good tin, the depth will vary a little. This didn’t matter to us as we specifically wanted a chunky, rustic look
5. Wait a few minutes until it’s nearly set and use your cutters to punch out the shapes – no need to remove them at the stage, just cut through to the paper
6. Once you’ve finished doing this, use the spatula to pop up the shapes and remove them.

Decorating the candle

1. It’ll take a couple of hours for the candle to fully set – you can speed this up by placing it in the fridge. You’ll be able to tell when it’s ready by giving the wick poking through the hole in the bottom a slight tug. If it’s ready, you’ll feel the candle “give” a little. Remove all blutack and the wick assembly and drop it out
2. You may see a slight impression of the mould’s internal spiral pattern on the candle – this can be rubbed off
3. Place the candle on an upturned mug or similar so you can easily turn it round without touching the sides
4. Take each shape and press it gently to warm it up. Place it against the side of the candle and press to stick – don’t worry about absolutely precise positioning at this point as you’ll be able slide it a little in any direction for a while.
5. Complete the design and leave the candle overnight to cool.
6. Enjoy your masterpiece!

Kids like crafts and, for a while now, we’ve offered child-friendly kits for making candles with beeswax sheets. However, the candles we see all around us tend to be container candles. These are usually created by melting container wax in a “double boiler” and pouring it into the glass jar, tea cup or whatever. This is all very well, and we have some lovely kits for making container candles but until now they’ve not been suitable for children (except, perhaps, older children under very close supervision).

So, we’ve come up with this recipe for creating a jam-jar container candle without needing the double boiler setup or handling molten wax [remember to click the Print button top left to print them out]

What you need

• Containers – these should be specifically suited to candle making. You can see our range of candle containers by clicking the link
• Wax pellets (standard, paraffin wax – not container wax which comes in blocks). For variety, and a nice sweet aroma, you can also use a mix of beeswax pellets and paraffin. Our Wax Refill Pack is perfect for this job and you’ll get several jam jar candles from one bag.
• Wick – see our wick sizing guide to decide which one you should choose. Err on the smaller side if in any doubt
• Self centering tab or similar to fix the wick to the bottom of the jar
• Blutack or similar
• Optional – some candle making dye
• The secret ingredient – a hair dryer!
• Some oven gloves

How to do it

Important: of course, even though we’re not using a double boiler, a hair dryer is still very hot and the glass will heat up quickly. So this is a recipe suitable for older children and supervision is essential.

1. Cut the wick to size and pass it through a tab, using a pair of pliers to carefully close the neck of the tab (you may need to help the child with this step)
2. Attach some blutack to the underside of the tab and fix it to the bottom of the jar/container with the end of a pencil if your fingers don’t reach. Make sure it’s nice and tight
3. Pour the wax pellets into the jar, keeping the wick roughly central. You might want to try having alternating layers of beeswax and paraffin wax. Fill it to just beneath the neck of the jar – don’t overfill – as I did in this picture, resulting in the pellets going everywhere when I turned the hairdryer on!!
4. If you’re using dye, break it up into small pieces and sprinkle around the wick on top of the wax pellets
5. Put on your oven gloves, turn the hair dryer up to maximum and point it onto the wax. It will take some time to begin melting, make sure you move the head of the hair dryer around to distribute the head evenly
6. What will happen is that the paraffin wax will melt and seep down the container. You can keep going until you get the effect you’re after: some people prefer to see the pellets further down, some prefer it to look solid.
7. You might want to heat the outside of the glass if you find an area that looks uneven
8. Top up the wax if it sinks too far and quickly melt it to form a plug at the top to seal the candle
9. Leave it to cool – make sure you don’t touch it until it has cooled down.