Homemade Scented Candles

For Christmas, my very DIY-oriented mom gave away some stunning scented candles to friends and family. I thought they looked stunning, and since I am pretty much obsessed with scented candles, I had to ask her to teach me. As it turns out, it is not at all difficult. To make them, you will need:

• Tin or pot
• Liquid paraffin (the amount depends on how big your tin/pot is)
• The fragrance or essential oil of your preference (Lavender, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Lemongrass... whatever you want your candle to smell like)
• Poppy paint (optional)
• White paint and any other color you wish to use
• A strong cotton cord or string for the wicks

The first thing you'll need to do is paint your whole tin white, to even out the surface and to make the rest of the paint look brighter and stick better to the tin. At this point, you can choose to make some designs with poppy paint in order to give it more texture. Another technique she taught me for texture (shown in the picture below) is to dip your brush in the white paint and then wipe it until the brush is almost dry. Then paint the tin with several, irregular strokes in different shapes until it is all covered.

Once it has fully dried, it's time to create the actual candle. First, you'll need to make sure that your wicks stand straight once the candle is finished: what I do is stick the cords to the bottom of the tin with a little ball of play-doh, and I hold them up, looping the ends (which will become the wicks) around a pencil or some long stick, ensuring that the wicks stay in place. For big tins, I like making three wicks for a better throw.

Now, pour the paraffin and the fragrance oil into the tin. Let the paraffin solidify over a good 24 hours. 

Once the paraffin is solid, trim the wicks to your desired length (1/2 inch or so is a good standard).

Now it's time to get creative: paint your tin however you want: personalize it with a nice message for someone, comforting words (like my mom did), or even write your favorite quote on it. The sky is the limit here!

Love, Peace, Faith... encouraging words and hearts make this a gorgeous candle

And then there's this one, made for me and Sean with our wedding details on it:

Everyone who received these candles for Christmas was absolutely delighted. But since the Christmas season is over now, why not make some to put around in your house? They will certainly add a lot of character and are quite the conversation starters.