Candle Making Tips

Tapers, columns, votives, containers, pillars and novelty – chances are you have at least one of these types of candles in your home. Surveys done by candle manufacturers suggest that 7 out of 10 U.S households use candles, 96% of which are purchased by women. The basics for candles are easy, just light them! However, if you want to get the most out of your candles and not watch your money go up in smoke (literally), here are seven tips to follow.
1. KEEP THE WICK TRIMMED
One of the best things that you can do for your candles is to keep the wick trimmed to ¼ of an inch. Wicks that are allowed to get larger than ¼ of an inch tend to burn faster and smoke. If you are noticing black soot accumulating on your container candles, the wick is too long. Nail clippers are a great tool for trimming wicks that can’t be reached with scissors.
2. AVOID DRAFTS
Burning candles in drafty areas can cause uneven burning and excessive smoking. Not to mention that your candle will burn faster. If you notice the flame of the candle flickering in any direction other than straight up, there is a draft. Prevent drafts by keeping burning candles away from heating and air-conditioning vents and open windows.
3. REFRIGERATE THEM
Candles that are cold will burn slower. To cool you candle, first wrap in foil or cling wrap to prevent the wick from absorbing any moisture. Pop them in the fridge for about an hour and light! Make sure you don’t put them in the freezer instead. They will break!
4. BURN THEM LONG ENOUGH
Have you ever seen a three-wick candle that looked like Mickey Mouse? For pillar candles, make sure you burn them for at least one hour for every inch in diameter. Skip this step and you’ll end up burning a tunnel through your candle.
5. EXTINGUISHING THE FLAME
To blow out a candle, a candle snuffer works best. If you don’t have a candle snuffer readily available, you can blow out the candle by placing an index finger in front of the flame and blowing gently. This causes the air to surround the flame and minimizes splattering of hot wax from the wax pool.
6. SAFETY FIRST
Keep all lit candles out of the reach of children and pets. Never leave a burning candle unattended. And always burn candles in a well-ventilated room.
7. CLEANUP
If wax has spilled on the carpet the best way to remove it is with paper and an iron. Place a paper towel or brown grocery bag over the spill. Place a heated iron over the paper towel. The heat from the iron will cause the wax to melt and be absorbed into the paper towel.

Making a scented jar candle as a hobby is something that you can easily do at home. Once your friends and family see the scented candles that you create, they will put in requests for specific colors and scents. Pretty soon you can have a profitable homebased business making and selling each scented jar candle that you make. You can use an aromatherapy oil for your scented jar candle and have one in your home for all different kinds of healing properties.

To make a scented jar candle, there are different sizes of jars that you can use. Try a frosted glass jar or a simple plain jar. You can also decorate the outside of the scented jar candles with pictures, sayings, name and dates to personalize the candles. There are various kinds of jars that you can buy for your scented candles, some of which look like jars of homemade jam. You can also get an aromatherapy jar candle that looks like a mug. With this type of candle jar, once the candle is completely burned out, you can wash out the jar and use it as a mug.

If you want to make a scented jar candle, you don’t have to go to the extra expense of buying special jars. It doesn’t matter what kind of jar you use, so you have endless options when it comes to making scented jar candles. It is the candle that is scented and not the jar, which means that just about any kind of glass container will do. You can even use drinking glasses if you wish. One option is to ask your friends and neighbours to save glass bottles for you. Baby food bottles may delightful little containers for scented candles. By using these smaller jars you can have an aromatherapy jar candle to give as samples, if you decide to start your own business.

Using glass bottles that would otherwise go into the trash as containers for scented jar candles is a great way to help the environment. Before you do use this type of jar for your scented jar candle, you do need to wash it thoroughly. Sometimes you may have difficulty getting the label off, but if you intend to apply your own label to the aromatherapy jar candle, it won’t matter if you don’t get off all the glue. However, you shouldn’t apply the new label to the jar for the scented candle until after the candle has set completely. The heat from the melted wax will cause the label to fall off.

When you create your own scented jar candle, you can also paint the jar in any pattern or in any color you wish. If you want, you can paint the jar and leave the candle white. Flat house paint will easily cover the jars you use for the scented jar candles, but you may need to apply three coats. This does take a lot longer to get the scented jar candle you want, but once you see the results, it will be well worth the extra effort.

Colonial candle making was essential in an era where there was no electricity and the cost of oil made it beyond the reach of common people. The most common colonial candles were made of animal fat or tallow, and only the rich benefited from beeswax candles, which smelt and burned better.

Colonial candle making registered a true progress when people discovered that they could make nice-smelling and clean-burning candles from bayberry shrubs. Wax is still extracted by boiling the bayberries, however the process is as time consuming as it used to be in the past.

The colonial way to candle making

Colonial candle making largely depended on whale oil, which was used as a primary matter. The cleanest, but more painstaking way to have the best colonial candles possible was to harvest berries from bayberries bushes. The only problem with this process was that you only got one pound of wax for every eight pounds of berries. Then it took manufacturers several days to prepare the berries in order to extract the purest form of wax to be used for quality candles. Remember that their whole point was to eliminate the bad smell of animal fat candles, not to mention the mess they made while burning.

For those of you who’d like to try colonial candle making at home as a way to satisfy your curiosity, there is bayberry wax available in shops, so that you don’t have to prepare it yourself. The big difference between modern times and the colonial era, is that we now have all sorts of molds to make wonderful candle shapes.

Colonial candles used strands of cotton as wicks that had to be taken care of in order to be kept burning. Usually candles made to be used for the household use were tapers. They were made by repeatedly introducing the wick in melted wax until it became candle sized.

Colonial candle making today
Colonial candle making may appear rudimentary, but it takes quite a lot of skill and dedication. Many people try it as a hobby, and thereafter learn how rewarding it is. Basically you need to deep a non-waxed taper wick into melted wax. Extra care is needed, particularly since both parts of the wick need to be coated evenly. Don’t wait too long between dips, since the candle doesn’t have to cool completely. Furthermore keep stirring the wax so that you maintain the same temperature. You may even have to melt it again during the process. Enjoy it!

One of the easiest ways to perk up your house is to add some amazing candle holders to your room décor. These candle holders are inexpensive and they look great in any room of the house. And lets face it, if you love candles you need to have some good candle holders or you could be facing quite a problem.

You see, candle holders are not just for looks but for safety as well. Good candle holders can mean the difference between a candle simply going out or burning down your home. If you forget about a candle, which we all do sometimes, it will be much less likely to start a fire if you have it in one of the many fantastic candle holders on the market today. When the candles are in candle holders they will simply sputter out when they get down low and burn themselves out harmlessly. Of course you still need to make ever effort to make sure you put out the candles before you leave the room or the house but if you do happen to forget one day, you will at least still have a home to come home to!

Anyone, no matter what their taste in home décor can find some fabulous candle holders. Candle holders come in all different colors and shapes and sizes. You can get cut glass or cut crystal candle holders, Venetian glass candle holders or even ceramic candle holders. You can get candle holders that are in the shape of animals or people, flowers or just simple random geometric shapes. There are literally millions of different candle holders for you to choose from. You will never have more fun than shopping for candle holders, the selection can keep you busy for years!

The best place to look for candle holders is online. When you start shopping for some new candle holders on the internet you are gong to have so many more choices at your disposal. And finding just what you are looking for has never been easier than it is today. The search engines o the internet are so powerful that all you have to do is type in just what you are looking for and you will get tons of results. Each of the websites that get show on your results page will take you to just what you have been looking for. You will never have to struggle to find the perfect candle holders again, ever.

And the price of the candle holders online is another fantastic part of shopping for them this way. You will be able to purchase the perfect candle holders online for a fraction of what you would pay in stores. Take a look around the stores and malls in your local area and then look at the prices of the candle holders online. The savings that you will find online will blow you away. So the next time that you are in the market for new candle holders check the internet first.

Metal candle holders offer antique collectors and decorators unique pieces of art for the home while being functional as well. Hand crafted metal candle holders are popular among artisan collectors for the varied material they are made of. For decorators, metal candle holders make a perfect tool for decorating any room of the house. Metal candle holders are also great decorations for the holidays to dress up the table or fireplace mantel.

The art of making candle holders started out as a necessity when candles provided the only source of light in homes. These early examples of metal candle holders remain prized possessions for those who collect candle holders and antiques. During the Colonial period metal candle holders were used for lighting the home and for telling time. One story tells of a spiral shaped metal candle holder that was used when a young girl would have her boyfriend visit the family home. The candle holder held a long tapered candle and would be lit when the boy arrived at the house. When the candle burned down to a certain length, the girl’s suitor was expected to leave. Old examples of metal candle holders were usually made of forged iron or heavy tin. Many of these collectible pieces still exist today and are relatively inexpensive to collect.

Although metal candle holders were once a necessity, they now serve more as beautiful pieces of art in décor in homes all around the world. Metal candle holders, whether made with a simple tin can or forged iron are also practical because they are much more durable and less prone to breakage. Most wrought iron metal candle holders can be purchased relatively inexpensively. Metal candle handles can also be found adorned with ornate decorations such as beaded chains, crystals and other gems.

Candle holders made out of metal are crafted from a wide variety of metal materials including bronze, iron, brass, sterling silver, aluminum, silver, steel and wrought iron. The sizes of metal candle holders vary as well, according to their intended use. Some candle holders are large and hold many candles that can light up an entire room. Others are smaller types designed to hold one tapered candle. Less popular, but still very desirable among decorators are forged iron candelabras.

Metal candle holders made of iron are very popular as decorative pieces today. These candle holders are often made by hand or are of forged or hammered iron. These handcrafted items offer quality, durability, uniqueness, and value. Artisans who make these metal candle holders out of iron make these pieces one at a time using the centuries old process of heating the metal in fire and hammering it into the desired shape or configuration.

Metal candle holders can be found all over the world. New pieces are easily located at almost any store that carries decorative items for the home. Both large and small metal candle holders are made in all shapes and sizes. Look for handmade metal candle holders at arts and crafts fairs where artisans sell their unique pieces of art.