Monday, February 2, 2009

Soy Ice Candles

We made these lovely candles today to celebrate light and the coming of spring.

beeswax pillar candles, soy ice candles and small lavender soy candles

The soy ice candles were a lot of fun! I thought I'd share with you how we did it.

Ice Candles
Here's what you need: 1 empty half-gallon container, 1 taper candle, about 2 lbs. of candle wax (we used soy...don't care for the petroleum/paraffin type), a melting pot or double boiler, essential oil if you want scent, a crayon if you want color, and ice cubes


Cut the container to the top of the pillar candle, hold the candle in the center and add ice. The mold should be full of ice, but not packed.


Put the soy wax in the melting pot (double boiler), add a crayon if you desire a hint of color. We chose orange to match the sun. Wax can be highly flammable so be careful not to let it get too hot.



It's now all melted and ready to go......


Pour the melted wax into the candle mold, the hot wax and ice make really cool crackling sounds! The wax hardens immediatly as it hits the ice...very cool! After filling the mold, add the essential oil, we used lemon and lime. Oooooh refreshing......



Let the candle set a while before you attempt to pour the water out; you'll need to pour the water out a few times before removing the candle from the mold. Mmmmm, looks like a creamsicle....yummy!



When you remove the candle, you will find a lot of cracks in the wax, pick at the cracks where you want the wax removed. They easily come off leaving this swiss cheese look:



Now that you're done with your candle, simply light the wick and the light will glow through the holes. I can't remember who I bought the soy wax from...a simple search of bulk soy wax will give you many providers. I bought my essential oils from www.herbalremedies.com, they have very reasonable prices.

9 comments:

Jodi said...

beautiful...and such a nice way to see in the Spring.

Anonymous said...

Wow, what care you took to make the candles and to share with us how to make them. We homeschool, too, and this is a perfect project for us to in relation to our current themed unit on freezing/melting/temperature/crystals

Beth

Leanne said...

I just love how these candles look! Thanks for sharing the method...

Tammy said...

I vaguely remember my mom making a candle like this back in the 1970's. I had forgotten all about it til I saw this! What an amazing way to make a candle. I'm so glad you shared with us how to do it, and I'll be making some with my girls!

Kelly said...

I love these soy candles. Thank you so much for sharing!

Starry Nites said...

We've made snow candles by digging a hole in the snow, adding a wick, and pouring the wax. They make crazy, interesting shapes!

Kari

Jess said...

Help. I made these candles last night and when we took of the container all of the wax chipped off at the bottom and the candle wouldn't even stand up. I followed the directions. what did I do wrong? Too much ice?????

Starry Nites said...

Now that it is summer, we will make sand candles! You dig a hole/mold in the sand and can add decorations along the inside of the mold (shells, etc.), then put in the wick and the wax. I'll have to send photos!

BTW, where do you get soy wax?

Starry Nites said...

Gorgeous photo, by the way! You take amazing closeup photos!