Oooooooooh, I have just made candles with 10% oils and they really are as good as Diptyque/Jo Malone

[LaurieFairyCake]

First time I've ever made candles and I wanted really smelly ones as I like dead posh ones

I made Amber and Lavender (my fave Jo Malone fragrance) and Lime and Fig.

I used soy wax so environmentally friendly and no paraffin and bought tea cups from charity shops so no waste, the ones I've made are actually giant french pottery cups that I got today.

The french cups worked out at £5.40 each as none of the stuff I bought was cheap. Not cheap as chips and if you used paraffin and cheap oils you could make it a lot cheaper. But one heck of a lot cheaper than posh candles.

Dead chuffed me and my home smells lovely.

I have another 15 oils to try - guess what everyone is getting for Christmas this year

[LaurieFairyCake]

very, very much Norbert

[LaurieFairyCake]

i bought these fab crinoline lady cups to make more from ebay today too

I have made 21 candles - DH thinks I'm crackers

[ThePhantomPlopper]

That link goes to the MN homepage Laurie.

[LaurieFairyCake]

these ones, no idea why the link didn't work

[LaurieFairyCake]

cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200359872402&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:GB:1123

weird

[LaurieFairyCake]

www.cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200359872402&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:GB:1123

grrrrrrrr

[ThePhantomPlopper]

How odd.

All 3 are the homepage.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Tis not working

[ThePhantomPlopper]

Nope still the homepage .

[TracyK]

Will I still be able to view this thread if I mark it for 'watching' - even if it gets archived?
I'd like to try this - but will take ages to get around to actually doing it!

[MollieO]

They look fab and I'm sure would be lovely presents. You could also make them to sell at craft fairs. If they smell as lovely as they look you could have a very profitable hobby!

[TracyK]

Also - I got a jar of Yankee - and it was fab - smelled the whole house. It ran out and I had a couple of wrapped samplers - hardly any smell off them - I had put it into the old jar - should I have used something else - or do you find the jars are the best for smells.

[expatinscotland]

Tracey, I actually find the wax tartlets brilliant for giving off scent as far as Yankee are concerned.

The jars are optimum, but they are costly, so if you can snag them in a sale (our local shop runs 25% off sales for end-of-season scents) all the better.

Laurie, thanks for the list of questions. I'll be happy to answer all of them.

I trim all my wicks, anyhow, as got in the habit when I was using a lot of beeswax candles with cotton wicks.

[ThePhantomPlopper]

My Yankee samplers are crap. I've a sandalwood one burning now and I've not smelt it once.

[expatinscotland]

Get the tartlets.

Only £1/each, too.

[ThePhantomPlopper]

Tartlets are good, the samplers aren't at all for some reason.

[MollieO]

Laurie I would ask MN to move this thread to the Arts and crafts section as it will be deleted after 90 days. I think there are a few of us who will be attempting candlemaking after your fab guidance.

[MollieO]

Should have added a 'here in chat' after deleted!

[Metatron]

your link

They look fab btw.

[Bumperslucious]

I love this idea, in fact I bought some tea cups last year to do the same thing but have never gotten around to it. Laurie, can I ask, how much did you shell out for all the stuff initially, i.e. what is the minimum spend?

[LaurieFairyCake]

Thanks Mumsnet for moving this to Arts and Crafts

Bumperlicious - I have spent £25 on 5kg of wax and made 21 candles so far (in jars and teacups) and have about half left. I spent £7-ish on (100 waxed) wicks, £35 on fragrance oils and essential oils, £6 on wax colouring chips (have used hardly any). You can buy smaller quantities of wax and much cheaper if you went for paraffin wax.

HTH

[Hangingbellyofbabylon]

well I was so desperate to make these for the teachers as end of term gifts that I just paid a small fortune for some soy wax in Hobbycraft . But just don't have time to shop around at the moment as need to get them done in the next day or two. I have no idea what 4lb of wax is in 'real money' but I hope it makes a few teacups for me. Off to charity shop this afternoon to get some lovely cups. .

[Hangingbellyofbabylon]

just looked at the latest piccies, they are truly beautiful .

[littlelamb]

I'm off to buy cups too
(and to pop in a few shops to rip off get inspiration for some scents)

[LaurieFairyCake]

Good luck with making them, hope you get some nice cups.
oh and don't disregard other vessels, I also picked up a very ornate oval silver plated box - that'll be lovely with a candle in.

How much did you pay for 4lb of wax in Hobbycraft? That's 1.5 kilo's so will make 7-8 candles-ish by my very rough calculations.