When making candles they might as well be scented
Basic Material
You will need a large mason jar along with some hardware for each candle that you want to make. You will also need an array of different plants, herbs and other natural items to create the fragrances that you want. You will also need a good supply of oil for fuel. Use natural oil such as canola, olive or vegetable instead of lantern fuel.
You will also need a nipple, coupling and two washers for each candle. You will also need a thick candle wick for each jar as well. Nipples are found in lighting sections of home improvement stores. They are essentially hollowed out bolts that have nothing but threads. 1/8 inch diameter nipples, couplings and washers work best for this project. You will also need a drill to bore a hole into the lid of each jar where the hardware will be attached.
Getting Started
Assembling the hardware is easy. Drill the hole in the center of the lid and insert the nipple so that half of it sticks up from the top and the other half sticks out from the bottom. Place a washer against the top of the lid and screw the coupling over the nipple until it rests against the washer. Repeat the same process for the bottom of the lid. Set the lid assembly aside.
You can stop here, fill the jar with oil, attach the lid and insert the wick before lighting the candle. However, to add some aromatic ingredients, you will need to prepare the oil beforehand.
Infusing the Oil
Choosing the ingredients to place into the jar for the aroma part of this project is going to be the biggest challenge. It’s not that difficult to find things, it’s just difficult to choose what combinations will produce the most satisfying results. However, experimentation is half of the fun and you can easily come up with a variety of fragrances that will make this project all the more worthwhile.
You can use anything from slices of citrus to pine cones and everything in between. Herbs work nice as well as a number of plants and flowers. Do some looking around to see which plants product the nicest fragrances and incorporate them into the mix. You can also combine all kinds of items to create a potpourri of scents as well.
Try simple things at first, such as a few slices of oranges and lemons or lavender. Pine cones are easy to find and plop into the oil, and they release a very fragrant aroma. You can even use vanilla beans and a mixture of different spices as desired as well. The sky is the limit.
The key is to allow whatever items you incorporate into the oil to set for a week or so before lighting the candle. This will give the material time to infuse with the oil as the oil draws out the scents. Test the candle every few days until it releases the desired level of fragrances. You can always add more items to the oil if the scents are weak while adding more oil to to the jar will dilute overpowering fragrances as well.
This is a simple, fun and rewarding project that produce a safe and natural source of light and aroma. It is also something that the whole family can experiment with and enjoy. Try it out for yourself today and feel free to share any tips or tricks that can improve this basic recipe.
