DIY scented soy wax candle in a mason jar

Make this cute soy wax candle in a canning jar!

This would be a great Super Saturday craft project, girls night out craft project, neighbor gift, or grandparent gift! It would also sell well at a craft fair! So many possibilities! It took me about 30 minutes to make a set of candles, including melting the wax, but not including the time it takes it to cool and harden.

Here is what you need to make this DIY scented soy wax candle in a mason jar:

1 pint sized mason jar
I chose to use this to hold the candle because I have plenty on hand.  You can also reuse glass pickle jars or glass salsa jars. Just make sure they have a wide enough opening that you will be able to fit your hand in to light it. 
If you want to buy a dozen pint size wide mouth mason jars, amazon is a good source- https://amzn.to/2PGfrhY
 Total- $0.00

13 oz of soy wax flakes
This is a good source for soy wax. They sell different sized bags so you can choose the size you want.  If you get a 5 lb bag, it currently costs a little over $17. You can make 6 pint size jars of candles from one 5 pound bag. Check it out here: https://amzn.to/2sRFMkk
$2.83

.8 oz of fragrance oil
Amazon is the best place to find fragrance oil in smaller quantities. Find the assortment on amazon here: https://amzn.to/36UzI9b. I purchased my oil in bulk from Candle Science, but it's only cheaper if you want to buy large quantities. I'm mixing "cinnamon bun" and "apple harvest" to create a "warm apple pie" fragrance. I like to choose fragrance oils that are infused with essential oils. It's up to you. 
 Total- $1.00 (if you buy in bulk. You could easily spend $3-4 on oil if you buy it in a 2 ounce bottle)

Wick and sticker
I like to use lead free wicks meant for soy wax. Here is a nice set of 60, plus a few wick stickers for about $7.50- go here: https://amzn.to/36Xznmh
You can also use the round dimensional double sided stickers that are usually used in scrapbooking or card making to hold the wick to the bottom of the jar.
Total- about $.15

Candy Thermometer
This is very similar to the one I use. You can get a fancy one if you want, but I'm pretty happy with this $5 one. Go here: https://amzn.to/2Z8Y9xb

Metal Pitcher (optional)
You could totally use a smaller pot inside of a larger pot if you don't have a metal pitcher. If you want to make a lot of candles I'd purchasing a few of them though, so you can heat up lots of wax at the same time. This is the style I recommend: go here: https://amzn.to/391YCFF

Clothes Pin
Use one to hold the wick in the middle of the jar while it cools. You can reuse them. Make sure they are longer than the opening of your jar.

Scale
You will want to precisely measure the wax and the fragrance oil.

Twine or Ribbon (optional)
$.05

Grand total per candle: $3.83+

I love that you can mix the fragrance oils to make one you love!!! And did you know that soy burns so much better/cleaner/healther than the petroleum wax candles!!!

Here it is with a big red bow! And it smells so delicious. It scents the entire room without even burning!

Let's get started!

Here is what the wax looks like.

Fill a large pot about 1/3 full with tap water. Heat over high heat. Meanwhile, measure 13 ounces of wax and put it into your metal pitcher. My metal pitcher will hold enough wax for 3 candles, so there is 39 ounces of wax in mine. Put the metal pitcher into the pot of water. It should look like this.

Stir it occasionally. I use a silicone spoon because I think it's the easiest to clean. When it starts to melt, I put the candy thermometer in it.  You want to continue heating the wax until the temperature is 10 degrees below the flashing point of the oil you are using. If you are combining two fragrance oils, go with the lowest temperature. My apple harvest flashing temperature is 189 so I only heat the wax until it gets to 179 degrees Fahrenheit.

When it comes to temperature, take the metal pitcher out of the boiling water and safely put it on your counter. Measure the fragrance oil- you want .8 ounces per 13 ounces of wax. Because I'm making 39 ounces of wax, I will use 2.4 ounces of oil. You can prep the oil while the wax is melting.

Mix the oil into the soy wax and stir occasionally until the wax cools to 140-150 degrees Fahrenheit. Doing so will help the fragrance oil bind with the soy wax better. 

Meanwhile, prep the wick. Take a round demensional double sided sticker (usually used for scrapbooking or card making) and stick one side to the bottom of the wick and the other side to the middle of the inside of the jar. Then put the wick into the middle of the clothespin and put it across the jar. This should hold the wick in place so it stays in the middle of the jar when you pour the wax into it. It should look like this.  

Then pour the wax into the jar. If you drip wax on the side of the jar, just wait for it to cool/harden and then wipe it off. As the wax cools, it will turn white. My kids love to watch this happen!

Let it sit on your counter overnight and wait about 24 hours or longer before burning it. It should burn for about 80 hours. For the longest burn time, keep the wick trimmed to .25." Wipe off any wax drips from the jar using a paper towel. Sometimes there is a white layer on the top of the candle (it's more likely to happen if it cools too quickly). If that happens to your candle, you can melt the top of the candle with a hair dryer, making it look great. 

  

Add a ribbon and a tag if desired. Makes a great DIY gift!!!

That's it! 

I hope you enjoyed this!

Wishing you lots of DIY love,
Jessica

P.S. If you liked this, show me some love by following me and repinning my project ideas! Here is the link to my pinterest page: https://www.pinterest.com/poshdiy/!

And, follow PoshDIY on facebook! Go here and hit the like button: https://www.facebook.com/poshdiy/ !