To give it a try before investing alot of money here is a way you can do it:
Go to the store and buy some milk or cream in one of the old style cartons. Use up the contents and then cut off the top and rinse out thouroughly and let dry.
Buy some gulf wax and a couple of candles you would like the color of if they were a couple of shades lighter (make sure they are colored all the way through, and not just the top layer.)
Go to a thrift store and buy an old crappy pot.
You will need one thing from a craft store: wick. The bigger the milk carton you will be using, the thicker the wick needs to be. A wick that is too thin will not burn the candle all the way - just a small channel in the middle, which means in won't burn all the way down, it'll just put itself out about half way through.
Melt the wax and the candle in the old crappy pot (pull out the wick from the melted wax). Keep temperature low low low on stove, or put the pot in a bigger pot full of water to create a double boiler. Wax can catch on fire if it gets too hot.
When it's the color you want, pour it into the milk carton. Have already prepared a wick: make it long enough to reach the entire length of the carton, plus about two inches; wrap one end around a stick/pencil/chopstick and dip it in the hot wax once or twice and pull out straight. When the wax in the carton is cooling just the slightest (when you can see a film forming on top along the sides of the carton, but before it goes all the way across the top of the candle) insert the wick. The pencil will rest across the top of the carton and hold it in place while the wax cools.
Let it rest for 24 hours or so, tear off the carton, trim the wick, and voila! A candle. If you absolutely love doing it, you can invest in more of the equipment. If you hate it, you're not out much but time and a few bucks....
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regna
If you want
Date: 2009-02-11 02:18 pm (UTC)Go to the store and buy some milk or cream in one of the old style cartons. Use up the contents and then cut off the top and rinse out thouroughly and let dry.
Buy some gulf wax and a couple of candles you would like the color of if they were a couple of shades lighter (make sure they are colored all the way through, and not just the top layer.)
Go to a thrift store and buy an old crappy pot.
You will need one thing from a craft store: wick. The bigger the milk carton you will be using, the thicker the wick needs to be. A wick that is too thin will not burn the candle all the way - just a small channel in the middle, which means in won't burn all the way down, it'll just put itself out about half way through.
Melt the wax and the candle in the old crappy pot (pull out the wick from the melted wax). Keep temperature low low low on stove, or put the pot in a bigger pot full of water to create a double boiler. Wax can catch on fire if it gets too hot.
When it's the color you want, pour it into the milk carton. Have already prepared a wick: make it long enough to reach the entire length of the carton, plus about two inches; wrap one end around a stick/pencil/chopstick and dip it in the hot wax once or twice and pull out straight. When the wax in the carton is cooling just the slightest (when you can see a film forming on top along the sides of the carton, but before it goes all the way across the top of the candle) insert the wick. The pencil will rest across the top of the carton and hold it in place while the wax cools.
Let it rest for 24 hours or so, tear off the carton, trim the wick, and voila! A candle. If you absolutely love doing it, you can invest in more of the equipment. If you hate it, you're not out much but time and a few bucks....