How To Make Scented Candles At Home – It’s A Lot Easier Than You Think

A nice way to make your home more inviting and pleasant overall is by making sure it smells nice. Scented candles are perhaps the easiest way to do so. They’re nice as little decorations sprinkled on shelves and tables and there’s always a way to add them to every room. There’s probably more types of scented candles than we can imagine so there’s something out there for everyone. As with everything else, the DIY route is also available. In other words, you can also make your own scented candles at home. They’re surprisingly easy and cheap to make.

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

First, let’s go over the materials that you’re going to need for homemade scented candles. You’ll need an old saucepan that you don’t mind getting wax on, a pouring pitcher that’s resistant to heat so you can put the melted wax in it, soy wax flakes, candle wicks and essential oils. A cooking thermometer would also be useful if you have one handy. Also, you’ll need little jars or containers to actually put the candles into. Here’s how the process goes: 

How to make scented candles step by step:

First, you take the saucepan and put some water in it, then you place the pitcher inside the saucepan to make a double boiler. Place it on the stove and fill the pitcher with 1 lb (450 grams) of soy wax flakes. Heat it to 185 degrees Fahrenheit (85 Celsius). This is where the thermometer comes in handy. When the wax reaches the desired temperature go ahead and add your fragrances/ essential oils. 1 oz (28 grams) should be more than enough. Place the pitcher aside and in the meantime go ahead and center the wicks inside the jars, using  pencils, chopsticks or something similar to hold them upright (place the wick in between two pencils and place these over the mouth of the jar horizontally). Allow the wax to cool to 135 degrees Fahrenheit (57 Celsius) and then pour it into the jars that you’re prepared. Let it cool overnight and then trim the wicks. That’s it, you’re done. 

If you want to you can also add color to your homemade candles. All you need to do is add some wax crayon pieces to the pitcher and to let them dissolve on the stove. You can play with different colors and combinations to make your candles not just smell great but to also look cute and stylish. When they’re all done and the wax is settled and cool you can also go ahead and decorate the candles. Making candles is easy, relaxing and a lot of fun. A great activity to enjoy while stuck inside the house and a great idea for a gift. 

Creative DIY candle ideas

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

As always, there’s more than one way to approach a particular project. When making candles at home, you can add variations to your design and even make adjustments to your technique. For example, instead of using a simple glass jar as a container, you could go with a cute ceramic container or one made of metal. This is a brass-plated votive holder and it looks super elegant. It’s perfect if you want to make a scented candle to offer as a gift to someone you care about. 

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

Small glass jars have a charm of their own with their simplicity, especially when they hold homemade candles in assorted colors and fragrances. Wooden clothespins are perfect in this case for holding the wicks upright as the wax is poured in and left to cool and harden. In this particular tutorial wax crayons and used to give the candles beautiful pastel colors. Check out all the details on instructables if you want to make something similar. 

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

Playing around with the idea of colored scented candles, there are many different variations that you can come up with. For example, it could be really fun to make something special and festive for various occasions. These for example are scented Christmas candles, with white, green and red layers, each with a different scent that suits the color. 

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

The focus can also be on the votives rather than the candles themselves. In that case, you can still use simple glass jars or similar containers but you can decorate them. Metallic spray paints can really change the whole look. Gold and copper are particularly elegant and beautiful. Take some time to paint the glass votives before you fill them with melted wax. You can then proudly display them on shelves or group up your metallic votive candles and turn them into centerpieces. 

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

These citronella candles have a really fresh and vibrant scent and they’re great all year round. They’re made with Citronella essential oil and eucalyptus essential oil, a really nice combo that’s both fresh and relaxing. You can make these from old unscented candles if you have any. Break them into pieces and melt them, then add the oils and follow the rest of the instructions as usual. 

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

Beeswax candles have been proven to be more eco-friendly in the sense that they don’t release carcinogens into the air as they burn but on the contrary they burn clean and neutralize pollutants. They naturally have a faint honey-like scent which is very pleasant but can also be mixed with essentials oils. A nice trick is to also add some coconut oil to help boost the scent. Check out lifenreflection to find out more about beeswax candles and their benefits. 

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

If you’re going to make your own candles it would be good to familiarize yourself with some of the specialized terms relating to fragrances and other things. For example, cold throw is a term which describes how strong a fragrance is when the candle is unlit and hot throw describes the same thing but when the candle is burning. Sweating refers to the pools of fragrance that gather at the top of a candle. These terms can help you make an informed decision when picking your essential oils and using them in your recipes. Check out more info and details about this on lifenreflection

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

A really cute idea is to use teacups instead of jars when making candles. Vintage teacups are excellent for this and this also gives you a use for some of the old sets that you keep around as decorations. You can even pair them with their matching saucers if you have them. Similarly, you can also use old mugs and various cups and other containers. Head over to hearthandvine to find out how to make these adorable teacup candles from scratch. 

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

There are various recipe boxes and kits that you can also purchase and which include all the ingredients that you need to make scented candles at home. On southernmomloves you can find an example of how you can use these contents correctly so you know exactly what to expect and how to prepare for such a project. This kit also includes cute labels that you can put on the jars. That way your candles will be personalized and will look more professional.  

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

Another cool idea is to use tins instead of glass jars and to make tea-infused scented candles. These make lovely gifts and they have a nice rustic and homemade feel which has a charm of its own. If you want to follow the recipe from purelykatie you’re going to need wood wicks, natural soy wax, lavender and chamomile essential oils, a hot glue gun and Harney & Sons tea. You can keep the contents of the tin since you only need the container for this. 

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

Candles can also be made from something other than wax. Although they’re not candles per se in the traditional sense of the word, these oil lamps are a very interesting alternative. What’s really cool about them is that you can add a lot more ingredients to the recipe than just essential oils. You can also add cinnamon sticks, dried orange slices, small pine cones and various other things found in nature. Floating wicks are perfect for this. For more details check out hearthandvine

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

For winter, we have another special idea in mind. These pinecone-scented candles are perfect for the occasion. You can decorate them with little pinecones and tree clippings and you can offer them as gifts on Christmas. The recipe and the instructions can be found on evermine. As always, you can add your own touch to the proejct and you can customize it however you see fit in case you have some ideas of how to make these candles even more special. 

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

Here’s another example of pumpkin-scented candles, this time from momtastic. As described before, hollowing out the pumpkins is the first step. Make sure to take out all the strings and seeds and to carefully cut off the top without ruining the aesthetic. This will become the container for your candle and using a sharp knife would really help to get clean and smooth lines. For the candles themselves use soy wax flakes. A 1 lb bag should be enough to make nine small candles.

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

Making candles at home is a lot easier than you think and you can simplify the whole process even more if you use our microwave to quickly melt the soy wax flakes. Just put the wax in a measuring cup and microwave it until it’s completely clear. This should take somewhere between 3 and 5 minutes. Then add the essential oils and mix, then pour the mixture into little glass jars making sure the wicks are suspended. Let them sit overnight and the next day you can focus on making your candles look pretty. A nice idea is to decorate them with lace, as shown on prettypauper

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

Wood wicks can be a lot easier to work with seeing how they don’t need to be held up with anything. They’re more practical from this perspective but they do have a distinctive look. In any case, they can be used when making homemade candles to give them a more interesting appearance and in some cases to outline a certain theme. One tutorial which describes the process of making candles using wood wicks can be found on soapdelinews

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

With a little bit of creativity you can find ways to make your homemade candles truly special. For example, instead of the usual glass jars or votives you can use something completely different and unexpected. A really cool idea in that sense can be found on popshopamerica where there’s a tutorial showing how to make seashell candles. These are great for a coastal-themed decor or for a beach house in general. 

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

You can also add a bit of glitter to your candles to make them stand out. Half a teaspoon of glitter should be enough for a candle and you can adjust the quantity based on the size of your candles or the style that you’re going for. Start by melting the wax and then add the glitter along with the essential oils and the dye if you want to color your candles as well. Use transparent jars or containers to let the beautiful color and the glitter show through. Check out birdsparty for more details. 

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

Dip bowls also make excellent containers for homemade candles. These wooden ones have a really stylish and beautiful look and the cinnamon sticks are a wonderful addition to the recipe. They give off a beautiful scent and they’re perfect for Christmas. Check out tagandtibby if you’re interested in more details about these exquisite scented candles and you want to make something similar yourself.

DIY Peppermint Mocha Candle

These peppermint mocha candles featured on aransweatersdirect are also magnificent and just as easy to make at home as all the other recipes mentioned earlier. This time the requires ingredients include the following: 2 cups of soy wax shavings, a candle wick, 30 drops of peppermint essential oil, 30 drops of vanilla essential oil and 2 tablespoons of organic cocoa powder. These are sufficient for one candle and you can adjust the quantities based on how many candles you want to make or their size.