Light your way to relaxation Just taking the time to light a candle seems to relax many people. When the candle is scented--especially with a fragrance that is pleasing--you may find that you're breathing more slowly and deeply.
You can easily make aromatic candles with your own favorite scents and colors using this simple process. We made clove & patchouli candles using four drops of patchouli essential oil and six drops of clove essential oil, and coloring the candle with dark red and brown crayons.
Pale-blue candles were colored with blue crayon and scented with 1/4 teaspoon wisteria fragrance oil. Yellow candles were scented with six to 10 drops of lemongrass essential oil; dried lemons can be placed in the mold before wax is poured. Sweetgrass essential oil (1/4 teaspoon) and green crayons were used for the green candles.
A word of caution: Take special care when melting the paraffin. This isn't a project for children.
Ingredients:
1 lb. paraffin
1/3 lb. beeswax
candle wick
crayon in color of your choice
fragrance oil of your choice
molds, such as Dixie cups or milk cartons
pencil
Yield: makes four or five Dixie-cup size candles
Steps:
- Prepare your candle molds by threading a piece of wick through a hole in the center of the bottom of a Dixie cup or other small container. Wind the excess wick at the top around a pencil and set the pencil horizontally across the top of the container, resting it in little cut grooves.
- Melt the paraffin and beeswax in a double boiler. Don't let the temperature of the wax exceed 180 degrees. Use caution; don't leave the melting wax unattended.
- When the wax is melted, add shavings of crayon and stir. Don't add too much or your candle will smell like a crayon.
- Add fragrance oil, and blend.
- Pour into your molds.
- Let set until hardened; leaving it overnight is a good idea, but if you're impatient you can peel the mold off after an hour or so, depending on the size of the candle.
- Trim the wicks, and your aromatherapy candles are ready.
Cleanup Tip:
Put any wax-laden utensils in the freezer for a couple hours; the wax will crumble right off.
This article is from the May/June 1999 issue of HGTV Ideas magazine. Photographs by Charles Brooks.
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