DIY: Cinnamon and Honey Beeswax Candles
We move on Saturday. It's a new chapter of our lives and I'm excited about it, but I'm also sad to be leaving behind Long Beach, our friends here, our first place together, and everything that I've become so used to for the last 2 1/2 years. There is one thing that I won't miss - the commute. Last Thursday and Friday my commute from work in North Hollywood to home in Long Beach took 2 hours and 15 minutes and I thought I was going to LITERALLY loose my mind. So, there are lots of pros and cons to this whole moving to Valencia thing, and trust me, I've weighed them all. But when it is actually happening, like as in, in two days, the whole thing feels very real and a bit scary. We spent our last weekend in Long Beach, doing what we do - really a whole lot of nothing and some cooking (cooking for me, not Adam, he continued to do a whole lot of nothing). We went for a run, went for a bike ride down the beach path, and took Penny to the dog beach. It was a wonderful last weekend in Long Beach.
To ease my leaving Long Beach blues, I wanted to do something to warm the new house a bit, and I thought homemade candles would do just the trick. I've been wanting to make my own candles for some time now, since Adam has horrible allergies and occasionally the candles I buy set him off. And then he is a sniffling, runny nosed, annoying mess. Something with a natural scent would be the best fit for us, so I purchased some beeswax and cinnamon sticks and got to work on some Cinnamon and Honey Candles. Beeswax has a delightful light honey scent. The cinnamon sticks don't release quite as much cinnamon scent as I had hoped, but I still think they are a nice touch. As your candle burns down to the bottom, the cinnamon sticks are revealed, making the candles rustic and unique.
Here's how I made two eight once jar candles and two four once jar candles:
Supplies:
1 pound of natural beeswax - I bought mine on Amazon
1 package of soy wicks, the ones with the wick attached to a metal bottom
10-12 cinnamon sticks
jars - I used 2 - 8 oz jars and 2 - 4 oz jars
a large metal can - I used a 28 oz tomato can, rinsed and cleaned
a small pot
oven mitts
a chisel (or flat head screw driver)
a hammer
ribbon for decoration
Method:
If you have a block of beeswax (and not pellets) use the chisel (or flat head screw driver if you have to improvise like me) and the hammer break your beeswax into chunks that will fit in your can. Place beeswax chunks inside the metal can.
Heat water in the pot over medium high heat. Carefully place the can of beeswax into the pot of water, being careful that it doesn't tip into the water. You now have created a double broiler with minimal cleanup! You can just throw out the waxy can when finished melting your wax and creating your candles.
While the wax is melting, prep your cinnamon sticks by breaking them into pieces. I used scissors, my hands, or the hammer and chisel depending on the size of the stick. After that, and once some of the wax has melted, dip the metal end of your wick into the liquid wax. Place the wick centered inside the jar with the wick as straight as possible. Repeat with other jars. Now place cinnamon stick pieces around the wick in the bottom of each jar.
Stir the wax occasionally, I used a whole cinnamon stick to do so, that way I didn't have to get a kitchen utensil all waxy. Once the wax is completely melted, use a oven mitt to remove the can of wax from the boiling water. Place a rag underneath the can to protect yourself from boiling water drips. Carefully pour the wax into each jar, avoid pouring directly on the wick, you don't want to topple it over.
Discard your empty waxy can and let the wax cool. And that's it! If your wicks are tilting too much to the side you can use toothpicks or shish cabob sticks laid across the top of the jars to help center them. Once the wax is fully cooled, trim your wicks to 1/4 to 1/2 inch. Decorate the jars and enjoy!
*Do not leave candle unattended. When wax burns down to the cinnamon sticks in the bottom, the last half inch or so, discard. Do not keep burning down to the bottom.
Love, Luck, and Happiness!