Lockhart - How To Make Candles At Home: Simple Candle Making For Beginners - Amaze Your Friends With These 23 Candlemaking Recipes

Were only human and can hardly wait to see or try whatever we are making for ourselves. Every How To book worthwhile reading will stress that preparation is key. No house can stand without good foundations any more than tossing the ingredients into the mix will produce the culinary delight or enable you to burn a candle to banish the cares of the day.

First we have to create a double boiler, as it is not possible to melt the wax directly in the pan. So that old saucepan you could never find a use for is perfect, it just has to be large enough to comfortably hold the container in which the wax will be melted. This container is, once again, something you have held on to, as it will come in use. With the addition of those ubiquitous odd spoons for mixing and blending found in every home, you are almost ready to go. A candle thermometer is a useful tool, especially when it comes to melting points, available from the same craft store as the ingredients.

You should also collect an assortment of molds to hold your finished candles. Clearly these should not be flammable, should stand the heat of the melted wax and the flame when the candle is burning. The obvious assortment of small glass, metal, stone and marble containers readily come to mind but also think about items you would normally throw away old cups and even egg shells, for example.

All these should be cleaned thoroughly before use, ensuring they are also well rinsed and dried. A quick shopping trip (online works just as well) and we are ready to go.

A pound of wax will produce almost a pint of liquid when melted. Paraffin wax (melts at 120 to 140F), soy wax (170 to 180F), beeswax (145 to 160F) and even old candles are equally usable.

Choice is often down to personal preference. Although paraffin wax is the cheapest and the best for the beginner as it takes aromas and colors easily. Beeswax is more difficult to blend but does have a unique and subtle aroma all of its own. Whichever you choose cut the wax into small pieces, shavings work particularly well, as this encourages an even melting process and avoids marked fluctuations in temperature.

Important at no time during the melting process should you leave it unattended. Remember wax is flammable if not it would not make a very good candle!