The Easiest Way to Make Candles with Scents You Love & in Containers That Fit Your Decor

How to easily make your own custom candles, in scents that you like, and use containers that fit in with your decor.

Have you ever bought a candle because you like the scent, but you didn’t really like the container it’s in? Or the other way around. Have you ever bought a candle because you loved its container, but the scent wasn’t really your favorite? I noticed that this was the pattern I had been following over the past few years. Hence my closet shelf full of candles that I have collected.

But I have come up with an easy solution! Make my own candles in tins that I can place in containers that fit my decor. And I can make the candles any scent my little heart desires!

I finished my modern bohemian bathroom makeover last week and I wanted to make some new, pretty smelling candles to use in it. So I was inspired to make these candles.

Table of Contents

• How to Make Custom Candles in Tins
• Candle Making Supplies
• Candle Wax
• Candle Wicks
• Candle Fragrance
  • Weigh Your Wax
  • Melt Your Wax
  • Prepare Your Candle Tins
  • Check the Temperature of Your Wax
  • Add Fragrance to Your Wax
  • Pour Your Candles
  • Secure the Candle Wick
  • Let Your Candles Cure
• Using Containers to Match Candles to Your Decor
• Tips for Burning Candles the Correct Way

How to Make Custom Candles in Tins

Have you ever made candles before?

If you have, you know that it’s not as easy as it looks. It takes a real candle expert to get the right wick for the right size container with the right wax and scent.

I’m a beginner candle maker. I have only made candles a few times. But here are some tips for beginners that I have found to be helpful so far:

• When you start making candles use a proven tutorial from an expert source so your candles will have a greater chance of success.
• Candle making is like chemistry class. There are a lot of factors that go into having the candle come out looking good and working right.
• Follow the tutorial instructions from a proven expert closely. The details like temperatures to follow and specific materials to use, do make a difference in the final product.
• The directions for the candles that I am making in this tutorial are specifically for the type of wax, wick and size container that I used. If you were to use different supplies the candles may not turn out correctly.

Larisa is the expert candle maker in this blogging duo, but she approved this beginner candle making tutorial. Check out her post on making a candle out of your old candle scraps.

This post is not sponsored by Candlescience, but I did buy all of the materials for this project from their website. Larisa and I both love their tried and tested products for candle making.

Candle Making Supplies

• Golden Brands 464 Soy Wax
• 8 oz. Candle Tins
• CD 18 Pretabbed Candle Wick
• Candle Wick Stickers
• Candle Safe Fragrance Oil
• Clothes Pins
• Container to melt wax in (heat safe and preferably pourable with a handle)
• Thermometer
• Large stainless-steel pot (to create a double boiler)
• Scale

Candle Wax

This recipe calls for Golden Brands 464 wax. This is a soy wax. Many candle makers use soy wax for several different reasons:

• Soy wax is generally easy to use.
• It is 100% vegetable-based wax and all natural.
• Soy wax is clean burning.
• It is water soluble and easy to clean up with soap and water or rubbing alcohol.
• Soy wax is affordable.

If you are a beginner, this is the only wax you should use for this recipe. As I mentioned before, candle making is like chemistry class. There are many different factors that determine how your finished candle will turn out. If you change the wax it could change some of these factors and you could end up with an undesirable candle.

Candle Wicks

Choosing candle wicks when making candles is a science as far as I am concerned. Expert candle makers do a lot of testing to figure out which wick is the best choice for the candles they are making and the wax and containers they are using.

There are many different types of candle wicks to choose from. For this project I used a CD 18 pretabbed wick, which is a flat braided cotton and paper wick with a metal tab already attached for easy placement in the container.

If you are a beginner, I would recommend only using this wick for this project in order to have the results you are hoping for. The wick of a candle determines many factors of the burning of a candle, such as how well it gives off scent, the flame and how fast the wax melts. If you use a different wick your candles may not turn out as well as mine did.

Candle Fragrance

When you make your own candles one of the most fun part is that you can use whatever fragrance you want! But there are some general guidelines that should be followed:

• Always use fragrances that are made for candle making. When you shop for fragrances online the description will tell you if it is safe to use in candles.
• Beginners should stick with fragrances that have a flash point of 180-200. The specific flash point for each fragrance oil can also be found in the fragrance’s description.
• The amount of fragrance that is used depends on several factors including what type of wax you are using. Fragrance amount is in weight and most expert candle makers recommend 6-10% fragrance per ounce of wax.

Weigh Your Wax

1. To start making my candles, the first thing I did was weigh my wax. Candle making is by weight not volume, so each of the ingredients should be weighed. For each of the eight-ounce candle tins, in this recipe, you will need approximately six ounces of wax weighed.

Melt Your Wax

2. The next thing I did was use a double boiler to melt the wax. I filled a large stainless-steel pot approximately 1/3 full of water and placed it on the stove and brought it to a low simmer. Then I place the other container, that I had measured my wax in, into the container with simmering water.

Prepare Your Candle Tins

3. While the wax was melting, I prepared my candle container tins. Apply wick stickers to metal tabs at end of wick and stick the sticker to the center of the candle tin.

Check the Temperature of Your Wax

4. After the wax was completely melted, I check the temperature of the wax. When the wax temperature is between 175-185 degrees Fahrenheit, VERY CAREFULLY, remove the container of melted wax from the double boiler. Use potholders if needed and remember that this is very hot wax in a very hot container. You or someone around you could get badly burned by the hot wax if you were to accidentally spill it on you or them.

Add Fragrance to Your Wax

5. Once the wax is at the correct temperature (175-185 degrees Fahrenheit) I weighed out my fragrance and added it to my wax. I added about 8% fragrance to my candles. Stir gently for two minutes to incorporate.

Pour Your Candles

6. Next, I checked my candle wax temperature again. Once the wax reaches around 135 degrees Fahrenheit, you can carefully pour your fragranced wax into your container.

Secure the Candle Wick

7. After the candles were poured, I slid a clothes pin down over the wick to hold the wick in the center of the candle while the wax cooled.

Let Your Candles Cure

8. I left the candles in the same spot where I poured them over night to let the wax harden. The next day, I trimmed the wicks to 1/4 inch, with regular scissors, and put the covers on.

Most candlemakers recommend that you let your candles cure 2-5 days before burning them to let the wax and fragrance fully bond. I lit the first candle from this batch about two days after I made them, and it smelled fantastic.

Using Containers to Match Candles to Your Decor

The second part of this project is to find containers that you can put your custom candles into so you can use them in your home, and they match your decor.

The best types of containers to use are made of materials that can withstand a lot of heat from a burning candle. Containers made of glass, ceramic or metal usually work well.

Do not use any plastic, wood or a container that could be top heavy and spill over. Basically, don’t use anything that could cause a fire.

The containers that I use to place my candles in are usually either:

• Cannisters
• Small Plant Pots
• Reused Candle Containers

Tips for Burning Candles the Correct Way

• Always burn a candle to achieve a full melt pool. A rule of thumb that many candle makers use is that it should take approximately one hour for each one inch of diameter of your candle’s container. The candles I made in this project take about 3-4 hours to achieve a full melt pool. See pictures below.

• Soy wax has a memory. If you do not achieve a full melt pool each time you burn your candle it will only burn the same amount as it did the last time it was burned.
• Trim your candle wick to 1/4 inch each time before you burn it.
• Never leave a candle unattended as it could cause a fire.

I’m very happy with my new candles that I made myself because I got to choose the scents and the containers. Does anyone else give candles and their containers that much thought?

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