At one time, candles were an important source of light, and they lit the room. Today they are mainly used for room decor, exuding a pleasant aroma and bringing comfort and coziness to the atmosphere. As a decoration, craftsmen create products of various shapes and colors, while decorating them with all kinds of additional material, both artificial and natural. Making candles at home has become an exciting hobby for many. Following the advice of this article, even a beginner can take up this process.
What do you need to create a candle?
Buying special material in order to make a candle at home is not necessary. Everything you need can be found in kitchen or children's lockers. First of all, collect the cinder from the previously used candles or buy the simplest paraffin in the hardware store. Prepare small molds and colorful crayons from wax for coloring. Forms can be yogurt cups, silicone baking cups, children's sand play kits and various curly containers. You can pour the composition into transparent glasses of glass. But keep in mind that you cannot take out the finished candle. To empty the glass, you will need to fully use it. Dyes can be not only small, but also acrylic or oil paint, and even decorative cosmetics. You also need a cotton thread, sticks for stirring and attaching the wick, a container in which you will melt the wax. Saucepan performing the task of a steam bath. If desired, you can add essential oils to the candle, making it aromatic. Decorative little things will add originality and appeal to products. When all the materials are collected, making candles at home will be simple and entertaining.
How to make a wick?
The wick should provide high-quality combustion. To create decorative candles with your own hands that will not smoke, it is important to choose the right thread. It should be made of natural fiber, which, when burned, crumbles to ash. If, upon ignition, the thread curls, leaving a solid ball, then this is a synthetic material.
The size and shape of the future candle, the type of wax and dyes, affect the choice of wick. If you use a glass cup, then the wick on a metal stand will save the bottom from overheating, preventing the fire from reaching the base. The diameter of the candle determines its thickness, on which the size of the flame depends.
To make the wick yourself, you need to take threads from natural yarn or floss and soak in a solution of 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of boric acid mixed with a glass of water. Keep the threads in the liquid for at least 12 hours. After drying, the cord can be crocheted or weaved together.
Variety of molds
There are many ways and options for making candles with your own hands. They differ not only in color and internal content, but also in the variety of forms that are used in their manufacture. Craftswomen create products in orange skins, in large shells, in cardboard designs made by themselves.
A very interesting solution is the candles in the sand form. Thanks to the sand, you can get any shape of the product. Candles, the photo of which is shown below, the girl creates on the beach. Of course, you can repeat this process at home. To do this, moistened sand is taken and placed in a wide container. Next, we recall childhood and the modeling of Easter cakes in the sandbox. We mess with the sand, squeezing out various shapes in it. Then you need to fill the recesses with liquid wax, which is poured using a spoon. Wax slowly flows down the metal, which prevents the destruction of the form in the sand. We are waiting for the contents to cool, after we pull out the finished candle.
Transparent gel candles
Transparent products look very impressive. Consider making candles at home using a gel. To create them, you need tannin, glycerin and gelatin. To prepare the mixture, it is necessary to dilute gelatin in water and add glycerin in a ratio of 20: 5: 25. Then heat the mass in a water bath until transparent. At this time, mix tannin with glycerin 2:10 and also warm and add to the first composition. Continue heating until the mixture is clear. Pre-prepare molds for mass spill. They must be transparent and resistant to high temperatures. It can be glasses, glasses, wine glasses or glasses. The shape can be decorated with shells or glass beads placed at the bottom. We take the wick and fix it on a pencil located across the opening of the glass. Do not lower the wick close to the decoration of the candle, raise it by 1 cm. Then slowly introduce the solution into the molds and wait until it hardens. As a result, we get the original transparent candles. A photo (for example) is presented below.
Bubble Fight
Making candles at home using a gel is clouded by the formation of unwanted air bubbles. If the presence of air is not intended specifically to create the realism of a carbonated drink, then consider several ways to get rid of bubbles.
The air leaves the gel faster when it is not frozen and is warm. Therefore, do not remove the gel from the steam bath until all the bubbles have come out. The warmer the composition, the faster it will be released from the air. If the candle is already filled, hold it near a warm oven, in the sun or wrap it in a warm shawl. Gently heat the cup itself in which the product is placed.
If, when creating decorative candles with your own hands, you use little things, such as shells, fill them with gel initially and let it harden. Then use them for decoration without releasing the gel mixture.
Decorative candles with coffee beans
Above, we looked at how to create a candle using a gel. Next, we describe an example of how to make candles from wax with the addition of decor from natural materials. To make a shell from coffee beans, you need to prepare two forms of different sizes. The main thing is that the smaller form should fit in a larger form and at the same time provide a wide space between them. Geometrically shapes can be any.
We insert one form into another and fill the gap in our case with coffee grains. If desired, you can put any decor, beads, shells, dried flowers. Then the space with the contents is filled with wax and set aside until it dries. After a while, the mold inside should be removed and placed in an empty area of the wick. Next, fill the inner space with a candle mass. A wax candle is ready!
Scented candles
In some cases, to create a romantic mood, you can use natural components that exude aroma. Such products are short-lived and can be used once.
To create a scented candle, take an orange and cut it in half. We remove the pulp with a spoon, trying not to damage the skin, which will serve as a form for the future candle. The edges of the peel are decoratively cut, leaving the cloves. We install the wick and fill the inside of both halves with colored wax. We are waiting for the wax to harden. Candle can be used. When heated with a flame, the skin will emit aromatic substances and give the atmosphere a special cosiness of warmth and romanticism.
Cone-shaped candles
Candles in the form of a cone look beautiful and original. Wax can be painted green and decorated, giving the appearance of a Christmas tree. And how to make cone candles at home? Yes, very easy! To create it you will need white paraffin candles and cinders, colored crayons from wax, a glass container, sheets from a magazine, beads or beads, toothpicks.
First, break the candles, remove the wick and put the pieces in a glass container. Add the grated crayons and place the bowl in a pan of hot water to melt the wax. At the same time, roll up the magazine sheets with a bag and secure the edges with tape. At the base of the bag, fix the toothpick with plasticine and fix the wick on it. Dip it in a bag and remove it from the hole formed on top of the cone. Next, the bag must be placed in a container with a narrower neck width than the bell at the folded leaf. Then melted and colored wax is poured into the inverted bag. After solidification, the wick at the base must be cut off, the paper removed.
To decorate the candle, the beads need to be warmed up in hot water and gently squeezed into the wax with tweezers (you can arbitrarily, or you can lay out a beautiful pattern and inscription).
Marble Candles
To create marble candles, you will need pieces of wax. You can make them yourself. After melting the wax of the required color, pour it into a wide container and cut into pieces, without waiting for complete solidification. Lay the hardened pieces in a mold, based on your imagination. Pieces can be laid by creating a mosaic on the walls, or in layers of several colors. Next, we fix the wick and pour the molten wax of a different color into the mold. A very hot mixture can slightly melt the pieces, but if you pour a slightly cooled mass, the pieces will look brighter. After pouring, tap on the surface of the container, causing the wax to penetrate into all voids. After cooling completely, remove the candle from the mold.
Creating candles is a very exciting activity that does not require excellent knowledge and extensive experience. Having started creating such products, you will not only decorate the interior with a new decor, but also free yourself from the search for gifts for relatives and friends. After all, each candle is a figment of your imagination, which will have its own individuality and creativity.