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]

littlelamb - the link TeamEdward posted has some in tins with some good combinations of scent for ideas, I love the idea of a Basil and Herb one. Me, I've ripped off Jo Malone and Diptyque scents so far.

[Bettymum]

Have just read this whole thread, very exciting! Your flavours sound delicious. I had a lilac Diptyque one once that was lovely. I'm definitely going to have a go.

Totally random question - where did you get your beautiful dresser? I'm trying to find a nice one for the dining room to fill with all my tat lovely china.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Bettymum - a pine shop in St Albans in 1995 - cost £400 for a 6ft dresser, it's very solid, it was plain pine but I painted the top half white and it's also been a green with stencilling in the 90's.

this shop, but can't see any dressers there now

[LaurieFairyCake]

this one is much nicer

[LaurieFairyCake]

trying link, please ignore

[LaurieFairyCake]

this one, Betty

[Bettymum]

Ooh, Laurie, that is lovely!

[claireybee]

Ooh I made candles last year, just for family and friends but was thinking of taking them along to a couple of toddler groups that I go to this year to try and sell some for Christmas.

Last year I did only essential oils and did Lime and Basil, Lemon and Lime, Bergamot and black pepper, Lemon and Lavender, Lime and Rosemary, Lavender and Sandalwood and a few other combinations I can't remember off the top of my head!

This year I have branched out and bought some fragrance oils as well so look forward to using them. I'm guessing you need more of the fragrance oil than the pure essential oil ones?

Tip for cheap vessels - buy Gu chocolate souffles, they come in little glass pots that are oven proof and work really well for candles. And you get to eat the pudding first

Also if you ever go to Nandos then get dessert to take away (are you sensing a pudding theme?!), it comes in a little terracotta tapas style dish and they work really well for a more rustic looking candle. You need 3 or 4 wicks in those though.

I also got some tins with lids on ebay for fairly cheap-the most expensive ones worked out at £1 each inc p&p and the cheapest ones at 23p.

In total (not including the Gu or nando's dishes-I had those anyway)I've spent around £80 but will need more wax and wicks. The essential oils are fairly expensive but as Laurie said they do have theraputic properties and you don't need that much of them.

I really do need to sell some though to justify that amount of money

Laurie how have you found the dye? I've been too scared to use it so far (and the soy is a nice colour anyway)

[claireybee]

Forgot to say, the teacups look lovely

[LaurieFairyCake]

claireybee - yes, I needed to use more fragrance oils as they were definitely weaker, I bought 30ml sizes and used a whole bottle per 300ml of wax so that it was 10% fragrance and I then added extra essential oils to make it even smellier. I'm burning a mediterranean fig fragrance oil candle with a few drops of bergamot essential oil at the moment next to me - it is a heavenly smell.

The dye is extraordinarily bright with just a tiny amount - however, it looks bright, clear emerald green while cooking but when dried is a milky minty green (very pretty colour), the blue is the same - a lovely lavender milky blue. I also really like the creaminess of the soy on it's own, you don't really need dye.

[LaurieFairyCake]

I'm loving the idea of tins with lids from ebay, then I can add fresh and dried herbs to them or prettiness - I was going to put lavender buds in the teacups but it would have been too much with the patterned china.



thanks for the tip

[HolyGuacamole]

Oh Laurie, I went and spent £50 on that website you linked to and bought some of the scents you mentioned as they sound delicious! I bought some votive moulds but am going to scour the house and see if I can come up with some funky ideas for pouring the wax into. Have a few birthdays coming up so they will make lovely gifts.

Am so excited, hope you don't mind me stealing your inspiration

[claireybee]

Laurie I tried adding lavender to one last year and it was a disaster, just didn't look pretty like I was imagining it to! Good luck with yours and let me know your technique so I can steal it

[Hangingbellyofbabylon]

Ok, have been round the charity shops and got some lovely little tea cups. We've made 5 so far and they do look so pretty. DD's are really excited about giving them to the teachers. Thank you for a great idea .

[ThePhantomPlopper]

If I was to make a candle in a container roughly the size of the one you sent me Laurie, how much fragrance do I need to use?

Is there an idiots guide to candle making somewhere online or do I just shove it all together and pray?

[LaurieFairyCake]

ooh, post a pic if you can

I got some more today too, dd has just made one in a little floral jug for her teacher, a violet and lime scent.

[ThePhantomPlopper]

Have reviewed your candle in chat BTW in case you don't see it.

10/10 .

[LaurieFairyCake]

PP, I used a jug so that when the oil was melted it made 300ml of oil and then added one of the 30ml fragrances to it along with extra lavender essential oil so it ended up more than 10 %.

It is really easy if you heat it in a measuring jug to then add the oils - the oils come in 10ml, 30ml, 100ml sizes.

All super easy. Don't forget to warm the cups though so that you don't get shrinkage.

Has it arrived yet?

[LaurieFairyCake]

x-posted

thanks

[littlelamb]

I got nothing in the charity shops today. Either there is a shortage of teashops or someone got there before me
I'm going to order the candle stuff tonight and try some more shops tomorrow. Do you think you could make one huuuge candle in a jug or somehting? I have a really pretty one but I guess I'd need more than one wick in it?

[littlelamb]

teashops??! Teacups obviously. No shortage of teashops here, it's granny central

[LaurieFairyCake]

Yes, littlelamb - I've got a elliptical pot which I am going to put three wicks in - it's going to take a helluva lot of soy and fragrance though

[ThePhantomPlopper]

I've just ordered from that site you recommended above, I got 30ml fragrances.

I got soy wax, can I bung it in the microwave?

[LaurieFairyCake]

Yes you can PP - I discovered that end of Saturday - took about a minute and a half ish in the microwave, you have to do it til it's clear. I'm glad I found that out as god only knows what my gas bill would be for Saturday when I had the hob on permanently for about 5 hours

[LaurieFairyCake]

Hangingbelly - that earlier post was to you - post a pic if you can it would be lovely to see them