Like most homesteaders, I have big dreams on my little homestead. I often hear, one dream at a time, from my homesteader husband and my sons. I plan to eventually add a couple of beehives to a corner of our little homestead. However, in the meantime I can enjoy the honey produced on my homestead because of a local beekeeper. There are several beehives very close to our homestead. I love hearing my trees hum in the spring and seeing busy bees on my flowers. A couple of years ago, I contacted my favorite very local beekeeper and asked if he had beeswax. Because he is a wise beekeeper and makes the most of his bee business, he did in fact have beeswax. For a very reasonable price I purchased several pounds of wax. I originally just wanted to make candles from wax that was a direct result of our homestead. However, later I compared prices in Hobby Lobby and Amazon and found out I actually saved quite a bit of money. So not only am I actually supporting a local homesteader, I am also saving money. When I started the process of making candles I was pleased with how simple and easy the process was, while producing a very nice product. I have enjoyed gifting a little piece of homestead to my friends and burning my lovely candles in my home too. Here are a few steps to process along with a few tips:
The first tip or step is to make a double boiler. I read that you do not want to use a nice cooking pan for your beeswax, as you can imagine it is sticky and slightly messy. So I decided to make a local thrift store trip and I found the perfect double boiler pot, an old fondue pot top. I paid a whopping 1.00 for my candle/soap making pot. It has quickly become one my favorite thrift store finds.
While making your double boiler make sure you only fill the bottom pot up about half way, you don’t want it to boil over as you are melting your wax. Put your double boiler on medium high heat, after the water is warmed and at a low rolling boil you will need to turn it down to medium.
Next depending on the size your beeswax is in you may need to break it down to fit in your double boiler. I use a small hammer, ignore my picture and don’t do this on your glasstop stove. Sometimes my ADD gets the best of me and then I think … hmm maybe I shouldn’t have done that. I buy my beeswax in one pound disk, so for every pound of wax I am melting I add a half cup of coconut oil. Now melt away !
Prep your jars while your wax is melting, it really requires very little attention while it is melting, no need to stir. I use a hot glue gun and glue my wicks down on the bottom of the jar. If your wicks are long you may need to use a wick holder as your wax solidifies.
When your wax is completely in liquid form, without any chunks or floating pieces, you are ready to pour your candles. Some choose to add essential oils for scent, I find the beeswax itself smells lovely. Put down a paper plate or something that can be thrown out under your candle jar, and pour. Make sure you leave enough head space on your jar, do not pour all the way to the top. After you have poured make sure your wick is stable and centered (this is where wick clips come in handy .. hint, hint maybe that would be a good Christmas gift for me). Try your best not to move the candle while it is solidifying because it can lead to cracks and your wick moving off center.
Now it is just pure simple waiting. I usually leave my new candles untouched for a couple of hours. Follow up with a trim of the wick, make sure you don’t do this too early because you will ruin your beautiful candle.
I have enjoyed this year adding a twist into my candle making. I love to thrift shop, and I recently found several cute pieces that made unique candle jars. No worries if there is already a smelly store bought candle in the jar, if you like the jar you can melt the old candle out and start over. This gift is affordable, fun to make, and a unique touch of homesteading. Merry Christmas, it is not too late to make some candles.
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