Starla's Candle Making Beginning Candle Making Instructions Recipes and Techniques Making candles without using a mold for the beginner. We use our own candle wax and supply scent when showing basic candle instructions tips and techniques. Our candle instructions are based on how we started out in candle making business. Making candles without using a mold for the beginner. We use our own candle wax and supply scent when showing basic candle instructions tips and techniques. Our candle instructions, below,  are based on how we started out in candle making business.

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Whether you are a candle making beginner or advanced in the art of candlemaking, we hope are candle instructions tips and techniques can help. Making a candle here is the easy wax way to decorate. Well, we have shown you how we make our base on the previous beginning instructions page.  What mold did we use?  We didn't buy expensive molds from a company. We used ceramic crocks, metal containers, fleamarket finds, baking pans, paper cups (the kind with the candle wax coating), and my brother-in-law even made some molds for us!!  How nice was that!!!  We use loaf pans purchase at various stores, flea markets, and yard sales.  Just about anything we could find to make our primitive candles.  We just have to make sure that there are no ridges of any kind.  The candle won't release if it has obstructions!  Of course, a candle won't come out of a paper cup most of the time, so we just peel the paper away and start decorating! They have been called ice candles, grubby and grunge candles, but what ever you call them, this is how the staff of Starla's Candle Making does that thing we do...........best!   lol (I'm the staff)     Heat the wax, add the color, the scent, and we are ready to go.    We need to add more color then usual with the outer layer of grunge.   Grunging seems to make the normal amount of color added to turn to a lighter shade.  Dark and primitive country is the look wanted here.  So for 5 lbs. of wax, I add 1 1/2 to 2 color blocks for a dark primitive look, or less for a lighter look.  Now this is only for the outside grunged on wax.  If you add this much color to a 5 lb block of wax, it would be too much ....your candles wouldn't burn right....the wick would clog. BUT, if the inside of your candle is more or less white, and you add this concentrated colored wax to the outside, then this color will bleed inside the candle when it is burning.  There by making the candle look dark on the inside, as it burns, but not affect the actual burn.  Wow, I hope you can follow me on that one.

Setting pan on tilt and putting the paint brush in till the old candle wax melts off! Use different colors for different candles, like cream for cupcakes - just let the grunge cool LONGER.  Top your cupcake bottoms with this, by scooping it on with a spoon.  Add decorations like pieces of blue wax for blueberries, wax apples, nuts, ect.

After the skim has formed, apply the candle wax with an old paint brush.

Remember we use our imagination.  Making a scented candle doesn't need to be difficult, it is easier then you think......just don't think to hard. 1st.  We set our pan of candle wax on a tilt. 2nd. We sit the oldest, ugliest paint brush we have in the wax (letting the old candle wax melt off, getting ready for this new batch - our brushes have been used a lot and we don'’t clean them in-between)      3rd  We wait for the candle wax to form a skim on top.  Sort of like pudding.  Now we are ready! Taking the brush we take up some of the skim and put it all over the base candle. We use lots of variations - dragging the candle thru the wax, using a hand held mixer and beating the partial cooled wax, we spoon it on.  We've used a spatula, knife, fork, just about anything you can imagine.  Don't forget the drippings down the sides of the candle, they are so pretty.  We use a spoon and just let the drips fall! Some basic tips, techniques, and instructions for making a good candle.  Let your customer know that the candle wick should never be longer than one quarter inch.  Always weigh your candle scent.  Each scent weighs differently because of the ingredients it is made of.  This will affect the way the candle burns, your candle will smoke and burn to slow.  If your candle is greasy when you touch it, you have added to much scent. Too little or too much air circulation around the candle may disturb the candle and cause it to smoke (release soot). Too much air circulation or to little will cause the candle to smoke.  So candle made in jars with small openings don't receive enough oxygen and will smoke.  Mason jars candles are an example. Make sure you use the correct wick size.  Small, medium, and large have nothing to do with the length of the wick - it is the diameter of the circle they burn.  You need the right wax formula combinations, if it doesn't burn hot enough your candle is going to smoke.

Use any metal or ceramic round base as a mold.  We use a basic bunt cake pan, purchased at Walmart for these.  Here we grunged the sides and then drizzles some cooler, lighter colored wax over the top and filled up the hole in the middle. After you grunge the bottom of the bunt, sit it on a metal pizza pan - like the one in the photo - then pour some cooler wax in the hole to make it a solid candle.  (I, also take a big soup spoon and scoop the almost harden chunky junk in the pan - the pan drippings - and pile it on top cupcake bottoms,  It turns out to look like real muffins.  You just have to watch you coloring for the top and bottom of the candle.  Like in the photo at the top of the page.)

Or just drag the base candle thru the grunge candle wax.  Grunging is how ever you want to put wax on the outside of a candle.  Grunging is your personal look.  It can be achieved in a variety of ways - bruses, drizzles, dragging, rolling on crumbles and liquid wax - there are really a million ways to do this.

Top with wax rose hip, wax apples, and other goodies.  Make sure you take the non wax items off, before lighting the wicks.  We make our goodies by making a silicone mold of rose hips, pecans, apples, ect.  You can find the silicone for making molds.  Cost around 24.95.  I wrote brief instructions on the making of a mold on our candle mold page.

Here is a tip - To save cleaning time, we sit the candle on a cookie sheet to cool and catch the drippings. We can move candles from place to place without much fuss or muss either. The best tip of all - IMAGINATION!  It is all up to you. Your idea, your candle, your imagination. We love helping you create new projects for pleasure or business!  The first book I ever read about candle making was called CandleMakers Companion. I recommend it for newbies. Below is one of my roasters. This is what I use, but I am not recommending you do.  I am just telling you what I do.  These roaster were not made to melt wax, they are a Hamiliton Beach cooking roaster.  I use what I want to, you do the same.

If you get large enough, you can purchase direct from a manufacturer.  Find one is difficult for a beginner.  The following are the ones I use and make no other endorsement of these companies, except my offered opinions.  I don't own stock, nor receive any compensation for what I say.  Frankly, they may not like what I say.  Try to remember, they are use to dealing with very large companies that purchase by the train tanker load.  So, don't be put off by some of the chilled responses to you.  The following is my own personal opinion and others may have different opinions, different experiences, and things may change since I write this.   I don't know if anything has changed. International Flavors and Fragrances Inc. A manufacturer of flavors and fragrances.  Out of New York.  I have purchased several fragrances from them and would highly recommend their fragrances.  The last time I ordered, they sold in 25 pounds same scent, you needed a tax I.D. number, and wanted assurances of how much you were going to order in a year.  Not the friendliest people, very business like. Now called Symrise, use to be Intercontinental Fragrances out of Texas.  They had good scent, but you need to purchase in 25 pound same scents, needed a tax I.D. number, and were overly bureaucratic in the use of a credit card. Nice, helpful, but they use to sell in less than twenty five pound quantities and I miss that feature of their company. Agilex Flavors and Fragrances This was my absolute favorite place to order scent from, at one time.  You use to be able to purchase less than 25 pounds of same scent, but you can no longer do this.  I believe, unless it has changed, they you need to be able to purchase 3,000.00 worth of their scent per year before you can have samples.  Good point:  least expensive, best scent around, and they are willing to work with you to develope exactly what you are looking for.   Down home friendliness and my favorite operator is a gal named, Eva. Pay attention to this:  DO NOT call and say you want a Bath and Body Work's, Brittany Spear's, or any other trade marked, protected fragrance.  No company can make these scents for you. Yankee Scents belong to Yankee Candles and there are laws protecting their rights.  Besides, why would you want someone else's product?  Think about it, you need to be developing your own signature products.

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