Cooking in the kitchen – No food involved. Candle making.

A butcher, a baker and candlestick maker … Well 2 out of 3 ain’t bad!

Does anyone else get really annoyed when their (sometimes expensive) candle runs out of wick but still has a ton of wax left in the jar? What a waste right? I love candles. I’m a little obsessed. If anyone is ever stuck for a gift idea for me they know they can buy candles and I will never be disappointed. Ever. Last year we decided to start saving the leftover wax with the aim of at some point making our own. This was more my OH’s idea than mine-he’s pretty creative but I was definitely on board so a few nights ago when Izzy was safely tucked up in bed we got to work.

I’m sure there are many more detailed instructions on the Internet if you wish to look and this may even be the completely wrong way to do it but this is what we did. And it worked.

You will need:

A heavy bottomed large pan
A load of leftover candle wax
Wick ( we bought a meter off eBay for £1.70)
Some old candle jars or cups – I used cappuccino cups and some plastic tubs to mould my larger ones
A silicone spatula to stir
A jug
A funnel
Some knives
Some Sellotape

Chop your wax up into small chunks, try to make sure you get rid of any leftover bits of wick or the metal discs at the bottom. Place into a large pan and place over a low heat, stirring often.
Whilst your wax is melting measure and cut your wicks to size and using a little tape at bottom of cup/jar stick the wick down and tie the top of wick to a knife placed across the top of jar/cup -try to keep the wick in the center.

Once your wax has completely melted, being very careful pour into your jug and then use a funnel to fill your jar/cup. Leave to set – don’t push your finger in or jiggle about. Try to leave it overnight to set.

Tada you have made your very own candles. They smell delicious…a rather mixed scent!

I’ll still be buying candles .. I’m addicted but I will definitely be doing this again.