Making
Embed & Gel Container Candles...
As
with all our projects we recommend reading the instructions thoroughly
before starting the project. For gel candles we also recommend that
you read About Gel Candles before starting.
There
are 4 main considerations when making these candles:
1. There are many nice glass cannisters to make your candle in. Be sure
your glass jar is quality glass and not a thin glass. The jar must
be able to tolerate the heat of the candle flame.
2. Wax embeds will melt in hot gel unless they are formulated with additives
and made with a high MP wax. For this project we really don't like to
embed, and prefer to set up our fruits/flowers in the cannister and
then pour the gel over them. This means that our wax embeds must withstand
190 - 195* gel. And they do!
3. Fragrance: This page contains directions for using gel-safe
fragrance.
4. Wicks: With the 16 oz. cannisters that are used in this project a 60-44-18
Z wick is used. If you're using a container 3 - 4" in diameter, try
double wicking with (2) 44-24-18 Z wicks. A container 2 - 3 " in diameter
should use a 51-32-18 Z wick.
There
are only suggestions. You will need to test burn your candles to be
sure your wick size is the best.
Let's
Get Started!
Supplies:
Step
1: Choose your gel safe fragrance.
Step
2: Melt your gel.
If you
want to melt small quantities you can melt it in a Presto kitchen kettle,
or in an oven safe dish in your oven. If you use a pot on the stove,
watch VERY carefully. Keep burner on lowest temp, and place your melting
container directly on burner. (Double boiler method will not melt gel.)
DO not leave unattended and always use a thermometer. A candy thermometer
will work fine.
Do
not let gel get hotter than 230*.
Step
3: While your gel is melting, fasten your wick tab to the
bottom of your jar with wick stickers or a hot glue gun. After we stick/glue
it in place, we tug on it to be sure the wick isn't going to come out
of the wick tab. (Nothin' like almost being finished with the candle
and then this happens. Ugh!)
We take
careful effort to be sure that all pieces face outward and the backs
of these halves do not show.
Step
4: Set up your wax embeds around the outside of your
container away from your wick. If your embeds are sliding and won't
stay standing, drizzle a little gel on your container first. Or entirely
coat the inside so the wax is leaning against the gel on the sides of
the container. We leave a void area around the wick. You'll learn why
in a minute.
We like
to basketweave our slices. We begin the bottom row with the thinnest
part of the slice facing outward. The second row faces inward and is
bridged over 2 pieces under it. We continue alternating the inward -
outward pattern up approximately 5 rows for our containers.
Step
5: Once your gel is melted, you may want to color it. Liquid
dyes are really best for coloring gel since they will not cloud your
gel. We color all gel for our fruit candles, and use clear gel for our
flowers. We use a dark red gel for strawberries and raspberries, and
very faint coloring for all other fruits. For these we use a toothpick
with a tiny bit of liquid coloring on the tip to dip into the gel and
stir. Be sure not to stir too much or you will create more bubbles than
you may want.
If you're
using a gel safe fragrance, you will want to use 1/2 oz. fragrance per
lb. of gel. Add your fragrance just before pouring gel into candle container.
Step
6: Now, remember that void space around your wick? You are
going to pour your gel at the coolest temperature possible straight
down into that space so you won't pour directly onto any wax. Your coolest
temp will depend on the density of gel you use. It will also depend
on what embeds you use. You want your gel temp to be as cool as possible
while the gel remains runny enough to spread throughout your jar.
Many people
inquire about the meltpoint of our wax embeds. We pour over our embeds
at 200* with no melting.
Step
7: You might want to use our
handy wick bar to keep your wick straight
and centered. You can fill in any blank spaces with more embeds at this
time. Be careful to not crowd the wick. If you want to add a few embeds
on top and pour extra gel over the top, you can do this now.
Wala!
You should have a beautiful candle!
