How to make votives!

Votives are a great place to start for your first candles. You can buy pre-blended waxes from most suppliers that already have the additives you will need mixed into the wax ready. This is a great way for you to get confident with the method before you start experimenting because the only thing you need to add is colour and fragrance!!

Votive molds & wick pins

I LOVE wick pins! I wouldn't even dream about making votives without them! Wick pins mean that you have a perfectly centred wick every time and they are such a time saver. A lot of candlemakers don't use them - there is no right or wrong way, but I am going to assume you are using them for this project. We're going to make a batch of 8 votives.

The first thing to do is prepare your work area and gather all of the supplies that you need in one place. Trust me on this - you don't want to be looking around for a stirring spoon when you are juggling with hot wax and molds!!

You will need

1lb Preblended votive wax

Double boiler

Thermometer

Pouring pot or jug

Scales to weigh the wax

Block or liquid candle dye

1oz fragrance oil.

Spoon to stir the wax

Votive molds & wick pins

Notepad & pen

Votive wicks (36-24-24z are "standard" and good to start with)

Heat gun

Step #1
Weigh out 1lb of your preblended wax and start melting it in the double boiler. You won't need to add any additives to the wax if it is pre-blended. While you are waiting for this to melt you can set out your votive molds and check you have everything to hand.

You will have noticed the notepad and pen in the list of supplies. This is such a worthy tool. Write down the date, the candle you are making, and the exact measures where possible of everything you use. This way if you get a great result, you can duplicate it next time around.

Step #2
Check that the temperature of the wax is between 165 and 185F, and then add the fragrance oil. The temperature is important because the FO can burn off if you have the wax too hot, and if it is too cool it won't mix properly. I always add the FO before the colour because it allows me to see to the bottom of the pot and make sure that everything is mixed in properly.

Step #3
Add your colour! If you are using block dyes, you can shave a little off ... with liquid dyes add colour by the drop. Remember less is more!! Start with a little until you are used to the concentration, especially with liquid dyes. Sometimes you may literally only need a toothpick worth of colour to achieve a pretty pastel shade.

Step #4
You are just about ready to pour! I always heat my votive molds before I pour into them - do this with your heat gun. Pouring hot (around 180F) into heated molds gives a nice shiny finish.

Step #5

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How to make votives!

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