Learn how to make your own candles at home using recycled pots
Welcome the arrival of a new season by making your own candles. These spring-scented homemade candles make the perfect decoration for the spring equinox or to gift to friends for a spring treat.
We've used soy wax for this candle tutorial to make them vegan and eco-friendly. If you'd prefer more traditional candles then head over to our how to make beeswax candles.
We've upcycled plant pots for this tutorial making this tutorial extra sustainable! You could use old jars, pots, or even tea cups instead. Whatever vessel you use we guarantee these soy wax candles will make your home smell beautiful.
Once you've mastered this candle-making technique check out our best candle making kits for more fun projects.
You will need:
- Soy Wax
- Waxed candle wicks (you can learn how to make a candle wick yourself here on Gathered)
- Floral scents
- Old pots/cups/ glasses/jars to make them in
- Saucepan
- Bowl
- Hob
How to make candles at home
Step 1
Add your soy flakes to the bowl and heat over a saucepan full of boiling water until the flakes have melted, if you want to make candles with all the same scent use a bigger bowl so you can melt down the soy flakes all at once. If you fancy making a few different scented candles then you can use a small bowl like mine and repeat the melting process for each new scent.
Step 2
Add a few drops of your chosen scent to the melted soy flakes and stir well.
Step 3
Place your candle wick in the center of your chosen vessel, there’s no need to attach it to the bottom as the weight of the soy wax will hold it in place.
Step 4
Pour your scented wax in and check your wick has remained in the middle, if you are finding that it tends to move or not stand up you can rest two pencils on top of the vessel that can hold the wick in between them.
Step 5
I had some wax left over so also repeated this process into a Kilner jar to save wasting the mixture. You can see this is a much larger vessel but the process still remains the same.
Step 6
Leave for a couple of hours to harden up and then you can cut the excess length off the top of the wick before lighting to celebrate the season.
Get creative with candles
If you're looking for more crafty projects to keep you entertained, check out our tutorial on how to paint candles – it's easier than you think!
