Scented candles are always a lovely way to add an inviting feel to any room – especially lavender. But you don’t need to spend a fortune on a store-bought designer variety, or spend hours messing about with hot wax – here’s a clever hack to create your own personalised flower candle and celebrate your garden’s most beautiful blooms in under half an hour. You can use any kind of flowers you like, even bark or leaves! If you are using thick flowers such as roses, just pluck off the petals. You an also use essential oils if you wish, but I chose to let the scent of the lavender do it’s thing – and it smells amazing.
WHAT YOU NEED:
A glass candle jar
6 tea light candles or wax pellets
A pillar candle that is thinner than your candle jar
Flowers of your choice
Essential oil (optional)
1.Choose your glass candle jar. You can buy these new or do as I did and upcycle an existing candle jar that’s run out of wax. Be wary of using regular glasses as these can crack once the hot wax is poured in.
2.Check to see your pillar candle is the right width and height. You should have at least 1-2cm gap in between the glass and the candle. If the candle is too tall, shave off some wax from the bottom of the candle using a hot knife. The very top of the candle should sit just above the lip of the glass.
3.Place your flowers in between the candle and pillar. You can use any flower you like – I used lavender but you could also use rose petals, or herbs such as rosemary. Make sure the glass is quite tightly packed with flowers as many of them will be covered by wax.
4.I used shaved down tea light candles with the wick removed for my wax, but you can also buy wax pellets from craft stores if you wish. Place your wax in a heat proof jar (a jam jar works well!). Heat water in a saucepan until it’s gently boiling, and carefully place the jar in the middle. Let it melt slowly over a low setting. Needless to say, hot wax requires careful attention – always use a water bath (never heat wax directly in a saucepan) and never leave the wax alone while it’s melting. Also keep kids and pets out of the kitchen!
5.When your wax is completely melted, carefully remove the jar from the saucepan with a cloth. At this point, you can add essential oils if you wish.
6.Pour the melted wax over your flowers. Tap the glass to make sure there are no air bubbles. The wax should reach just under the lip of the glass. If you don’t have enough, melt more wax.
7.Leave for two hours or until set.
One more thing – be sure to use these within a month or so of making them, otherwise the flowers can go mouldy! Enjoy!
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