Diwali is around the corner and we all know that it is a festival of gifts. This Diwali gift your loved ones a special gift made by you. Make them feel more important and special by doing so. There are many gifting ideas and since candles and diyas are a symbol of diwali then why not indulge ourselves in making some pretty candles.
We have already learnt how to make a simple pillar candle. Let’s learn something new today. We shall now learn how to make beautiful gel candles at home for the purpose of gifting.
For making a gel candle all you need is:
- Gel wax
- Wick
- Glass container
- Stainless Steel Utensil (for heating the wax)
- Scents/Perfumes/Oils
- Colors/Dyes
- Embeds (optional for decoration)
Steps for making a gel candle:
- Stick the wick at the bottom center of the container using glue.
- Take the utensil, break gel wax into small pieces (so that it melts faster) and put it in the utensil.
- Now keep the utensil over the flame and remember to keep it on low flame as gel wax may catch fire. Maintain its temperature to approximately 200°F so that it looks just like a thick liquid.
- To this melted wax, add some color/dye. To keep the transparency of the wax, use very little color. This would also make embeds visible.
- Add some scent/perfume to give fragrance to the candle.
- To put embeds in the container, you may keep them at the bottom of the container or arrange them wherever you want by dipping them in the hot wax. Keeping them on the sides would increase their visibility.
- Keep the wick up on the edge of the glass container.
- Now pour the gel wax in the container. Be very careful while doing this. To avoid the bubbles in the wax, it should be very hot.
- Roll the wick over a pencil to keep it straight and in the center.
- Let the candle cool. After being cooled, trim the wick and pack it the way you want to gift.
Some tips:
- For beginner, there are many kits available with all the material assembled.
- All the material mentioned above can be obtained from candle wax suppliers or some art shops.
- It is important to use essential oils and colors specially made for gel candles. Cosmetic oils/perfumes are not suitable.
- There is a wide variety of glasses and perfumes available for making gel candles.
- For embeds you can use anything non-flammable – colored aquarium gravel, marbles, glitter, sand, sea shells, pebbles, crystals, polished stones, artificial jewels or pearls.