Let’s get started

1. Prepare the wick

We need to make an opening for the wick at the center top of our rubber peel-back beehive mold.

To make the hole, a tapestry needle on which you would have thread the wick or an awl, or even an icepick can do the job.

You might need pliers to pull the wick through the top. Let 3/4 inch of the wick sticking out the top of the mold.

Easier said than done !

First of all, I never succeeded to thread the wick into the hole of the needle I had chosen from my sewing kit. I must admit it wasn’t a tapestry needle but a smaller holed one. Guess I created myself misery. Consequently reverted to a small metal pick found in the toolbox in the garage.

Great ! the hole is made. The wick now .

Leave enough wick at the bottom of your candle so that you can wind the wick around a pencil ( or the dipping dowel included in the kit ) to keep it straight when you will pour the wax.

2. Create a mold stand

Standard-sized drinking glasses, plastic containers or food cans will work as mold stands.

I selected a drinking glass and delicately installed upside down the mold into it and winded the wick to the dipping dowel.

Checking the instruction sheet, I noticed it called for a cool-water bath to cool the mold after having poured the wax, so I grabbed a big wok-like bowl.

3. Pour the candle

There is no indication on the instruction sheet as to how much wax to melt in the wax melter, so I decided to melt the volume of one cup and it turned out it was okay, as I had a little bit of extra.

Check the temperature of the wax; it should be around 190 degrees Farenheit. It is now time to add the fragrance and the dye color. I scrapped the vanilla bar with a knife and let a couple of layers fall into the melting pot and added a yellow dye chip.

Pour the candle. Might be a good idea to wear plastic gloves to protect your hands from the heat.

Reserve some wax for the topping-off process. If needed adjust the wick to make sure it is correctly centered in the mold.

After 2 or 3 minutes, place the mold in the cool-water bath and make sure it does not tip.

As you can see in the above photo, my mold did tip ! and I lost some wax in the cool-water bath.

But, come to think of it, what I should have done is pour water in the glass before inserting the mold and pouring the wax. Would not have needed that big bowl !

Would it not have been easier ? I would have avoided manipulating the mold after the wax was poured. If you have any comments do not hesitate to post in the post comment area below.

After two hours, I removed the candle from the cool-bath and separated the excess wax aggregated to the candle. With the scissors , cut the excess length of the wick at the bottom.

4. Top off the candle

The wax did shrink significantly during the cooling process and carved a well at the bottom of the candle. This need to be refilled with liquid wax. The time it takes for the well to form depends on the size of the candle. Best to check each 10 minutes or so.

5. Remove the finished candle from the mold

After two hours,I removed the candle from the mold. It came out easily.

If you do not want to wait that long to start another candle you can experiment with found molds.

There is a section in the book ( p.32 ) that talks about these molds that you can find in the house. For example: dairy cartons, cardboard juice cans, rigid plastic containers ( shampoo bottles ) , cocoa containers. Results are unpredictable but there is little to lose by trying, you can always remelt a candle.

6. Taking care of your mold

Pour boiling water onto the mold to remove any excess wax, but never into a sink !

Go outside and bring your kettle with you.

Voilà ! here we are with a cute tiny beehive candle .

It has been a truly fun experience to create this candle.

The draw backs I would like to point out is that it could have included at least two molds.

Also, even though the description on the box states that this candle kit can provides for 10 candles with the 3.5 pounds of wax enclosed, a little bit of guidance would have been appreciated in regards to measurements but I guess that the fact that it can always be remelted if too much volume done, makes it irrelevant.

A good point is that it can be done without creating a mess.

Stay tuned for more.

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Tags: beehive candle mold, candle making kits reviews, candlemaking, candlemaking projects, handmade candles, homemade candles, The Complete Candlemaker Book & Kit