I love Halloween. From decorating the house, to seeing all of the fun costumes that everyone comes up with, I just can’t get enough of it.

To get in the spirit of the holiday, we thought we would change things up a bit. Instead of reviewing and recommending candles, we would like to have some fun and share a DIY blog post with you! As you know, Halloween is fast approaching us and we thought that this would be the perfect theme for a candle tutorial.

Follow this tutorial to make your own layered halloween candles that will look great as day or nighttime Halloween decor pieces.

DIY Halloween Candles

Materials Needed:

Wax flakes (available on Amazon)

Pre-tabbed candle wicks (available on Amazon)

Votives or similar glass containers

Wax dye in black and orange (available online or in your local craft store)

Fragrance oil (optional)

Tools Needed:

Medium sized sauce pan or pot

2 Glass measuring cups or heat safe pouring pots

Stove

Wick bar (optional)

Wick stickers or glue gun

Glass thermometer (optional)

Dixie cups (optional)

Directions:

Step 1: Attach your wicks

To get the wicks set up for your candles, attach wick stickers to the metal tabs on the bottoms of your wicks. You could also use a hot glue gun to add a small dab of glue to the wick tab. Then place the wick into your glass container’s bottom and push down gently.

Place a wick bar over the top of your glass container and attach the wick. Alternatively, you can wrap the wick around a pencil and place it on top of the container so it is held in place. Be sure that the wick is in the center of your glass and standing straight up.

Step 2: Measure and melt your wax

Soy wax is recommended for this tutorial as it is natural and an easy wax to work with for beginners.

Measure out the amount of wax you will need to fill all of your containers up. Wax flakes will melt down to about half their size, so make an estimate that is double what your containers would need to be filled to the top.

Because we are making dual colored candles, put half the measured amount of wax into each measuring cup so you have one cup of wax for each color you are going to be using in your candles.

To melt your wax we will be using a double boiler method. This is basically a safety precaution so that we don’t overheat our wax. To do this, simply fill a medium sized saucepan or pot to the halfway mark with water and put on medium – high heat. Place one of the measuring cups full of wax inside (the color you would like to be at the base of your candle). Stir occasionally as the wax begins melting.

Step 3: Adding color and fragrance to your wax

When the wax reaches a temperature of 185 degrees F. you are ready to add color and fragrance. If you do not have a glass thermometer you can just do this step when the wax becomes fully melted.

To add color you can either use liquid dyes or wax color blocks. I find that liquid dyes are the easiest to use for this but you can experiment with either of the two. Add the desired amount of color to your melted wax and stir it in. I recommend using double the amount of dye suggested on the label to dye these candles because soy candles often come out more of a pastel color with the normal amount.

(Optional) Add Fragrance. Remove the wax from the heat source. You can now add your desired amount of fragrance oil to the melted wax and stir in. Depending on your personal preference you can add more or less fragrance oil. Essential oils can also be used to fragrance your candle. Stir the oils into the wax.

Step 4: Pour your first layer

Take your first measuring cup of melted wax and carefully pour it into your glass container being careful to not drip it down the sides of the container. I transferred some of my melted wax to a dixie cup before pouring as I found this to be an easier way to pour since you can fold the tops of the cups to suit your needs. I also took the wick bar off when I poured as they were standing pretty straight by themselves, I reattached them after the wax was poured.

You can adjust how much to pour into your first layer depending on how many layers you would like to add. Keep in mind that you will need to let each layer solidify before you can add the next, so the more layers you add, the longer the process will take.

Do not use all of the wax up because this will be reheated to later add your additional layers of the same color.

Helpful tip: Allowing the candles to set in room that is close to 71 degrees F. will help adhesion to the glass containers and prevent cracking of the wax.

Step 5: Adding Additional Layers

Allow the previous layer to completely cool and solidify. This will take at least 30 minutes but is needed to ensure that when you pour the next layer of warm wax in that the colors do not bleed together.

While this process is happening you can prep the next color that is to be poured by taking the second measuring cup filled with wax and repeating the melting and coloring process from step 2 and 3, replacing the first color with the second color chosen.

Once the wax in your glass container has solidified you can now add the melted wax of the second color, again being careful to not drip on the sides of the glass as you pour.

Allow layer to cool.

Repeat step 5 until all additional layers are completed.





Step 6: Trim your wicks

When you have finished adding all of the layers you would like to your candles, trim your wick using a pair of scissors so that there is about 1/4 inch of wick remaining above the wax.

And you’re done!

If you have any questions, please ask in the comments section below. I’d be happy to help!

Have a great weekend fellow candle junkies 🙂