lloyd
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Recycling candlesWe use a lot of fragrant candles at home, and always end up with lots of leftover perfumed wax when the candle dies. I saw a candle making kit in a charity shop, so grabbed it. In tonights experiment all I used from the kit was the moulds, and wicks which are in any case widely available online for pence. So these candles coming up are basically free. The purple ones are blackberry flavour, white are vanilla, and orange are ..well, orange flavour.
Take two old pans, one bigger than the other and fill the big one with boiling water to about a third full. The second goes into it with enough rough chopped wax for your candle.
Bring the water to a gentle simmer and reduce the wax to liquid. Once this is achieved, dip your wick (  ) in the wax and cool it hanging vertically, so it dries straight.
tie the end of the wick around a toothpick, and poke the other end through the bottom of your mould, then trim. If using a pyrex or other mould then simply allow the wick end to rest at the bottom of the mould.
Then pour in the molten wax.
As it cools it shrinks so you need to keep topping up with more molten wax, and to speed the process up I put the moulds in a washing up bowl of cold water.
These candles would retail at about £2.50 each normally, and we now have six for free!!!
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Libby
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WOW! what a great find in a charity shop, with moulds! I made candles last year I think it was with Lottie and the problem I had was finding moulds! Was there a make on the kit Lloyd so I could keep my eye open cos I love smelly candles!
Brilliant, brilliant find 
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lloyd
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The make of the kit is Dryad. I bet you could use terracotta flower pots as moulds though?
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Libby
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Thanks Lloyd, I will keep my eyes open. I like the pyramid shaped one
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Kathy
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They look great Lloyd, a good bit of recycling.
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lloyd
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Libby, wicks are £1.25 a metre from Hobbycraft.
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alison
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Lloyd, they look fantastic.
To ease them out of the mould easier you can rub a small amount of washing up liquid inside the mould.
For melting wax, the bain marie method is good, but to save wasting any on washing up, use an old, clean bean can the any leftovers can stay in there, ready for the next time.
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Libby
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Thats a good idea too alison. 
Do home made candles smoke more?
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Lizzie
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We do the same with our old candle ends - yoghurt pots make good moulds too...
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Flowerlady
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They look lovely! I have a draw full of candles that have used up their wicks! If you wish to add extra scent ... what do you use ?? 
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Cabbagepatch
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Essential oils FL, according to what you like/need. Or citronella to keep the insects away in the summer.
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Flowerlady
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Right I'm off to round up the dead 'uns! 
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Kathy
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E and I bought some teenie glasses from the charity shop (20p each) and waxed some plain string for our candles. We've not finished yet so I'll post a photo of the finished articles when they're done.
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lloyd
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Sounds fun. Love the table.
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