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I absolutely love candles as Bridal Shower Favors, so in addition to the Wooden Wick Candles that I made for my bestie’s Bridal Shower, I wanted to experiment with other candle making ideas so that guests had a variety of different candle prizes to choose from. An idea I’ve had for a while that I’ve always been too nervous to try was to make candles with different stripes of colors, and this was the perfect opportunity to try it. So I took out my Candle Dyes and made my first attempt at Color Striped Candles, and they turned out to be way easier and cuter than I could have imagined!
While they may look difficult, in reality they consist of nothing more than heating the candle wax to color it, then letting it cool, and remelting and scenting it based on what colored stripe you are doing. The hardest part of this project was merely storing the wax after it was colored, which I used my set of Rectangular Soap Molds for, and it actually was the perfect choice because I could easily store 2-3 oz per cavity and then I had nice little colored blocks to remelt. It’s easiest to complete this project in two sessions, the first to color the wax, then the second once you have all your colors cooled and ready, remelting them and pouring them into candle jars.
For these candles, I made a mix of Rose Color Striped and Lavender Color Striped in two types of candle jars, and they all came out so cute! I would recommend waiting a little longer and making sure each layer is set, so your stripes have nice distinct edges and don’t bleed into each other, which mine did in a couple places! I weighed the wax as I created each stripe to make sure they were all the same width, which I highly recommend; however, if you choose to do this I would also work one candle at a time, letting each layer cool on the scale and then rezeroing and pour the next stripe, some of my crisp lines got messed up because I moved them off the scale to make the next one before they cooled. Next time, I’ll be keeping them on the scale until they are completely poured!
While a little time consuming to wait for each stripe to solidify, it was well worth it for how cute they turned out! These candles are an easy project as well as a beautiful and unique gift to impress your friends and family with; whether you choose to use them for Bridesmaid Proposals, Holiday Gifts, or Bridal Shower or Baby Prizes!
Supplies:
- Soy Wax and Cotton Wicks
- Lidded Candle Jars or Glass Candle Jars
- Candle Pouring Pot
- Candle Dye
- Fragrance Oils or Essential Oils
- Soap Molds or Bowls for holding wax
- Kitchen Scale
- Burner or Hot Plate
1. Start by weighing out your wax for the candles you wish to make into your pot or candle pouring pot. I used 16 oz per for each candle, the full volume of the jars I used, so that I had a little extra wax to work with and top them with at the end. For the bits of extra wax I used in these projects I made myself a couple of little striped candles in jars to burn in my office! You can make up to four candles if you are using a melting pot like I am, but I liked melting 16 oz at once so I could color and scent each candle uniquely, which is super fun for personalizing them for your friends, bridesmaids, or yourself!
2. To create the stripes on these candles, I chose to color and cool the lighter colors of the wax first, measuring out what I needed and then dying the remaining wax in the melting pot darker.
Start by melting all the wax over medium low heat until the wax is between 200-220 F. Once it has reached this temperature, you can add your wax coloring. Start by adding your first round of wax dye, mixing with a silicone whisk until it is completely incorporated. I tried measuring my dye in grams, but I found it easier to add a little at a time and test the color. Check the color of your wax by letting wax dry on the back of a metal spoon, until it has reached the desired shade. For the lightest shade I added just a couple chips of dye, as shown in the photos. For the pink I used a mix of white and cherry red candle dye, while the lavender was made by adding small amounts of the purple dye only.
Once you have your desired light colored shade, pour 2.5-3 oz of melted wax per candle into a separate bowl or silicone mold to cool. I found the perfect thing to use was my Silicone Soap Molds for cooling the wax, each cavity is a little over three ounces so I just poured them mostly full to reserve my wax colors. Depending on the candle jar you want to use, the amount of was you reserve will vary, for my jars I reserved:
Gold Lidded Glass Jar
- 4 Stripes: 3 oz of wax per stripe
- 5 Stripes: 2.5 oz of wax per stripe
Glass Lidded Jars
- 5 Stripes: 3 oz of wax per stripe
Now, make your medium shade by adding more candle dye to the melting pot, adding another 1-2 small chips of the wax coloring. Once you have reached the desired mid colored shade, pour 5-6 oz of wax per candle into a separate bowl or silicone mold to cool, just like the light colored wax. You’ll notice you reserve twice the amount of wax for these candles, that’s because you need it for two stripes!
Finally, add a final chip or two of candle dye once more to the remaining wax in the melting pot for your final darkest shade. Remove remaining wax from heat, and you now have the three shades for your striped candles! Let the wax cool in the molds, with the third color either cooling in your candle pourer pot to be scented first and the first stripe of your candle, or pour all the wax into molds and wait for each color to solidify. That makes it easier to choose what colors you want to scent and pour first or to make a rainbow of stripes for your own personalized candles!
3. While the wax is cooling, prepare your wicks and jars. Taking a cotton wick, dip the stand end into the melted wax and place into the candle jar, using the wax to seal it to the bottom of the jar. Once the wicks are dry, thread the wick through the metal centering device (or a little piece of cardstock with a hole) to secure it in place for wax pouring. Once the wicks are dry, it's time to pour your candles!
4. Melt and cool each of your colored waxes to 150 F, add the fragrance or essential oil of your choice, continuously stirring the wax with your whisk to bond the fragrance and continue to cool for pouring. I started with scenting my shades lightest to darkest, so I could use the same whisk to mix all the bowls without changing the colors noticeably in the darker shades. The fragrances I chose for my candles were:
Pink:
Rose Fragrance - 5 drops per wax color
Lavender:
Lavender Fragrance Oil - 5 drops per wax color
When the wax has cooled to about 120 F, it is ready to pour into the jars.
5. For each candle, start by placing it on a kitchen scale so that you can measure out your wax by weight. Starting with your darkest shade, use your candle pourer to measure 2.5 - 3 oz of wax into the bottom of each candle jar, creating the first stripe. Reserve the rest of the wax for the top stripe in a separate bowl or mold.
Once the first stripe has cooled and solidified, reheat the middle shade wax in the melting pot to 150 F, scent it, and cool to 120 F. Using the kitchen scale again, measure 2.5 - 3 oz of wax into each jar, creating the second stripe.
Repeat this process of cooling the candles and reheating the wax to 120 F for the next three stripes, with your lightest color being the third, middle color being the fourth, and darkest color being the top stripes in the candle. Reserve any additional dark colored wax for topping the candles, and let cool completely.
5. Once the candle is cooled, check the top to see if there are any divots or imperfections in the top, which can happen during cooling. If needed, remelt the remaining wax to 120 F and “top off” any imperfections on the top of the candle, again allowing it to cool completely. Trim the wick with nail clippers, cuticle cutters, or small scissors and you’re done!
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