Hey DIYers! Yesterday I did a little project I've been meaning to for some time and made some beeswax candles. :) It was very easy as I wasn't doing anything complicated like adding dyes or scents, and beeswax smells good all by itself, anyway!
So I took a bunch of beeswax pastilles that I already had for making salves and melted them down in my crockpot:
I was filling the little cups that fit in my wall sconces as my primary goal of candle-making, and I had a suspicion that my wicks might be long enough to get two candles out of each wick (even tho that would mean no metal bottom anchoring it down on some, I figure that was okay because I've had some store-bought candles without one, and as long as I held it still while the wax cooled it should be okay, right?).
So after those initial candles cooled, I snipped the wicks and yes - I got more candles out of them! :) I used bag clips to hold them in place while the wax solidified.
I discovered that I had only melted enough wax for 10 out of the 11 cups (my measuring method had been to scoop 11 cups' worth of pastilles out of the bag), so I melted a bunch more and dug out a couple more candle holders while I was at it. I should have learned my lesson from the first time, because I could have melted almost twice as much to fill the big candle holder; it just goes to show how much air space is in-between the pastilles when measuring it out. Now I know for future!
The big jar has two wicks, and there's an additional Santa-decorated candle jar in addition to the 11 cups that fit in my holders.
I like using wall sconces so that a) they always have a safe space to burn that isn't, say, my crowded bookshelf or something that could be hazardous like that, b) it's spaced out so that if there's a power outage I can at least see where I'm going throughout the apartment, and c) because cats. I don't want my fella to go swishing his tail over an open flame!
So now I am once again all set if there's a power outage. I had run through my stash of tealights and votive candles that fit in the sconces quite some time ago, so I'm glad to be prepared again! Also, candles are just nice and I enjoy them. :) Thanks for reading!
