Candles

A friend invited everyone over to make candles at her house.  I was excited to go and do something new.  When I walked into the dining room I saw their table filled with different colored chunks of wax.

They have a dozen molds.  It was an afterthought to snap a picture after others had already started.

We started by dropping the wick through a hole in the bottom of the mold and inserting a rubber "chocolate chip" in keep the wick secure.  I had already trimmed the wick by the rubber piece before I took the picture.

We then tied it around a metal rod to keep the wick tight and in the center of the mold.

Then we put some black putty on the bottom that held the "chocolate chip" in and kept any wax from leaking out.

We filled our mold with wax chunks.

They had clear wax that we could tint with a waxy color and they had about 30 different scents to choose from.  The wax was heated to 160 degrees.  I used vanilla in all 3 of my candles.  It took a little over an hour for it to be solid.  Her husband told us that if it were all melted wax it would take 6 hours to set.

The white candle with blue chunks has a smooth top.  I didn't fill it as full with the wax blocks and Forest used a heat gun to level it after the air bubbles got out.  The red candles (only one pictured) I filled to brim.  They like the blocks sticking out because you can tell it is homemade.  

If I get to make them again, I know what I would do differently for the hexagon shape.  The round candle I don't know that I would do anything different.