How To Make Scented Candles

All of us are drawn to wonderful sights and smells. How we define that beauty is entirely individual. Nevertheless, not many of us would turn away from the sight of a sleeping child, a garden full of scented flowers or even a room full of lighted candles! And if the candles in that room are scented, even better! In fact, scented candles have become such a rage that we see them used as gift items, party favours and so on. They have become just as ubiquitous as cellular phones. They come in various shapes, colors, textures and scents, with lavender and sandal being two of the most loved ones. Did you know, however, that they are as easy to make as to buy? Well, all you need is paraffin wax, your favourite essential aroma oil and a cotton wick. Instead of buying expensive candles from the store, you could invest your time in making them at home. Given below is a recipe for making such scented candles.

Tips For Making Scented Candles

Here’s what you will need to do to make those lovely scented candles at home:

Things Required

200g Paraffin Wax
2/3 drops Essential Oil
20g Stearic acid
Some cotton roll or a good cotton wick
Dried flowers or Potpourri
Food coloring
One glass
A few cookie cutters

How To Make Them:

Boil some water and heat the paraffin wax in the top portion of your boiler or in a metal bowl over the saucepan, but never directly over a heat source. Add the Stearic acid when the wax begins to melt. At this stage, you could also add your favourite food coloring and the essential oil of your choice. Let this whole mixture melt into one.
Add about one and a half tablespoons of the melted wax into a glass or about a teaspoon or two into the cookie cutter. Before it hardens, insert a good cotton wick deep enough into the wax to a little above the rim of the glass or cookie cutter. Hold the thread erect by wrapping its free end to a ruler or pencil and balance the pencil on glass rim.
Put a tray or newspaper under your mold to stop the wax from dripping all over the place. Pour the liquid wax into a metal pouring jug and then slowly pour it into the mold.
You must remember that wax contracts as it cools, so it is best to use a stick or pencil to poke small holes in the candle around the wick after the first pouring. This will prevent air pockets from developing inside the candle. As the candle sets, the middle will sink as it cools, so you will need to melt more wax and top up the candle.
If you’d like them with potpourri, take a transparent bowl in which you want to make the candle, place dried flowers or potpourri on the inside edge of the container so that it is visible from outside and when you pour wax into the container, it looks like it is a part of the candle.

Tips

When it comes to the color that you would like to use, remember that it could be in a liquid, powder, or chip form. Chip color - a solid pigment chip - is perhaps the simplest and most widely used color source for scented candles. For one pound of wax, one diamond chip of color is more than enough. On the other hand, if you have a long block of solid color, you could break off about one fourth of the block and it will give a nice, rich colour. If you prefer pastel shades, half the amount mentioned above would suffice.

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