Candles are one of life’s greatest pleasures, but when they’re store-bought they can be pricey and fill your home with toxins. These easy homemade beeswax candles are a nontoxic, and economical solution to having a subtle yet intoxicating smell wafting through your home.

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Below is the printable How To Make Beeswax Candles card. For a more in-depth look at the process, with pictures included, and for Frequently Asked Questions, scroll down! Enjoy!

Equipment you need to make Beeswax Candles:

• 3- 16 oz. glass mason jars or other various-sized glass vessels (this is a fun place to take some creative liberties.)
• Crock Pot (Use an old crock pot, or take a trip to the thrift store)
• Cup with a pouring spout
• An old tablecloth
• Candle mold release
• Hot glue gun
• 9 inch pre-waxed candle wicks with clips
• Wooden Skewers or chopsticks
• Whisk
• Kitchen Scale
• 2 pounds of beeswax
• .66 pounds/1 Cup of Coconut oil
• Essential Oils (optional)- For these candles, I used a combination of lavender and lemon EO’s.

How to make Beeswax Candles:

Step One: Melt your wax

The first thing I do is put down an old tablecloth (I use this tablecloth for candle making and nothing else) on my counter. The whole process happens on this tablecloth.

Get out the rest of the candle-making equipment and place it on the tablecloth.

1-2 hours before I plan to make my candles, I get the beeswax (and the optional coconut oil) melting in the crock pot (also sitting atop the tablecloth). Are you beginning to understand the importance of the tablecloth? You will love this process wholeheartedly if you don’t make a colossal mess. Trust me. We have made all the messes and I have perfectly streamlined this process for you. You’re welcome.

I bought an old crock pot from my local thrift store. Having a crock pot that is fully designated to candle making, also makes the whole process more streamlined. One of the biggest complaints I hear about candle making is how messy it’s. I don’t use any of my kitchen tools for candle-making. We have a candle-making bin that is stored in the garage with all the things we need, including the crock pot. We COMPLETELY skip the step of cleaning out the pot. When we are done making candles, we turn the crock pot off, and whatever beeswax is left, lives in the crock pot and gets used again the next time we make candles.

Step Two: Spray Jars

Lightly spray the mold release spray into the jars.

Step Three: Glue the wicks

Wrap the wicks around the center of the wooden skewer measuring to make sure the metal clip at the bottom of the wick will touch the bottom of the glass vessel with the skewer propped on the edge of the jar. Make sure the wick is straight. Some wider candles require two wicks for optimal burning. For this process I used a wider glass jar, to show you how to glue in two wicks.

For one wick, make sure the wick is centered in the middle of the jar

Two wicks, have them each slightly off-centered.

When you have them wicks measured properly and fastened to the skewers. Carefully take the bottom of the wick and generously cover the bottom of the metal clip with hot glue. I like to get some hot glue on the bottom of the jar to, quickly get the wick and skewer back into place, and hold the metal clip against the bottom of the jar until the glue has mostly dried. Repeat this step with the rest of the jars.

Step Three: Pour Wax

When the wax in the Crock Pot has completely melted, turn the pot off, and cool the wax down slightly before pouring your candles. About 10 minutes.

Add the optional essential oils and mix with a whisk.

Begin by dipping the spouted cup into the hot wax and then pouring it into each jar, being careful not to tamper with the skewer and the wick.

I fill the jars to 1/4″ underneath the rim of the jar.

Step Four: Let them’ cool

Don’t touch them! Don’t take the skewers off the rim, don’t move them. Just let them’ cool baby! After 1-2 hours, depending on the temperature of the room, they will have set or harden. Candle enthusiasts will say that you want your candles to “cure” after this initial “set” time.

Frequently Asked Questions on Candle Making:

Why should I put coconut oil in my beeswax candles?

Coconut oil can help the candle burn evenly, and wider, instead of tunneling. We have been making our own candles at home for a decade, and in our experience adding coconut oil to the beeswax does help with the problem of tunneling, our candles seem to burn better with the addition of coconut oil. They burn outwards instead of straight down. Therefore the candles have a longer burn time.

How do you stop homemade candles from tunneling?

Tunneling happens when a lit candle doesn’t melt to the rim of the vessel and it starts burning down, not out. It wastes precious wax and becomes hard to light as it gets deeper into the tunnel of the vessel, making for a short burn time. This is frustrating. There are a few ways to avoid this:

• Melt a blend of coconut oil and beeswax to make your candles.
• On the first burn: allow the candle to stay lit until the wax melts all the way to the end of the rim. The general rule is to keep the candle lit for at least four hours for the first burn. “Candles have a “memory,” so wherever they melt to the first time, they will likely melt to the next time you light it. Make sure that you have the time needed to monitor the candle safely on the first burn.
• Keeping the wick short. At about 1/4 inch above the wax helps the wax to melt out not down.
• Let your candles cure.

What does curing do for a candle?

Depending on the type of wax that you’re using, candles take time to cure or continue to harden. A candle will set (turn from liquid to semi-solid) after just a few minutes. Curing takes much longer. For beeswax candles, the curing process can take 7-10 days, curing from the outside, in. Allowing your candles to cure also ensures the fragrance oil binds to the wax. If your candle seems to melt too quickly this is what candlemakers call a “melt pool.” Another sign is that a candle has not been cured long enough. All in all, I would highly recommend letting your beeswax candles cure for the full 7-10 days, or longer.

How do I stop my beeswax candles from cracking?

These cracks are known as surface cracks, and although they are unsightly they will not disrupt the way your beeswax candle burns. Beeswax shrinks as it cools. There are a few ways to prevent these cracks:

• Pour cooler wax into the vessels. The less it has to cool inside the vessel, the less likely you will have cracks, pockets, and craters form in your candles.
• Letting candles harden in a warmer environment also helps the outside and the middle of the candle cool/harden at a more comparable rate. The cooler the environment, the quicker the outside of the candle will cool and therefore can cause collapses and cracks into the unstable center that hasn’t cooled yet.

Other pretty little projects from the farmhouse:

• Fall Planter Box

These candles are gratifying and therapeutic to make, and to burn. Give them a try and let me know how it goes in the comment below!