Making candles. And soap. I’ve wanted to do both for a long time, but now that I’m in the midst of doing them, I realize that there’s a good reason people buy these things instead of making them themselves. It’s a lot of work! And spilling soy wax all over your stove? Very hard to clean up.
Did you spend the weekend frantically getting stuff done for Christmas or have you been ready for a while? I really want to be the type to have my shopping, crafts, and baking done well in advance, but I’m always so busy that it never happens. But I’ve learned my lesson this year! Next year I’m going to be on top of things. I’m going to have my Christmas shopping done in September. Really!
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Ooh you need to post tutorials! Good to know up front that you don’t think it’s worth it though.
I’m posting the tutorials on Dealectica, but I will probably link them here sometime this week. The candle holders I made were definitely worth making, but I don’t think I’d bother making candles again. But mostly I’m just bitter because I had my heart set on making scented candles & I didn’t have the right kind of oil for it!
You are a brave one! I have always wanted to do both too, but it does sound like a lot of work!
It’s more manageable if you don’t try to do both of them together like I did!
These will make great gifts, and I’d love to learn how the soapmaking went, I’ve done candles, but never soap.
Well, I did melt-and-pour soap, which is kind of cheating.
I bought olive oil and honey soap bases, melted them, mixed essential oil & strawberry seeds (for exfoliation!) into the melted soap, and then poured it into molds. It was really easy, but it was just a lot to do two batches of soap AND candles AND baking all on the same day!
I have done soap and candles, but these candles look better than the ones I used to make. I would love to hear how you made them.
I was going to post a tutorial, but I didn’t want to be responsible for burning down people’s houses.
But basically, I melted the wax (soy wax) in a double boiler & poured it into the glass jars. I wanted to use pine oil to fragrance them, but at the last minute I found out the kind I had was highly flammable–so sad!
You made me laugh Ohkeeka! Don’t we all say that we’ll need to be on top of things *next* time. It’s like Colbert Report’s famous tag line “Let’s make a better tomorrow, tomorrow!” =D I love that guy….he cracks me up too!
Ha! Well, we have the best intentions, right?
It always seems like no matter how hard I try, I’m always behind on everything lately!
I want to try and make soap and candles one year… I usually make “edible” gifts… Maybe next year I’ll try =)
I usually do edible stuff too, but I was feeling ambitious this year. I think it would have worked out better if I wasn’t doing it all in one day!
That sounds like fun!!
As much as I’d love to make crafty homemade stuff like that, I just don’t have the time. LOL I’d rather buy it…
But it’s Christmas! LOL. I just thought a handmade candle would be so much more meaningful than a store-bought one! It sounded like a good idea at the time…
Wish Wish Wish I had the time to try making candles. Something I’ve always wanted to do but never quite found the time. Now with blogging I’m not sure I’ll ever find the time lol… Looks like alot of fun though
Enjoy your new venture.
kevin
Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to make candles again.
It wasn’t difficult as much as messy & painstaking–like, the wicks kept moving around in the holders and the wax spilled all over. :/
I haven’t made candles before and after reading this I think I might just buy mine. Though I did make soap once, with an expert soap maker’s help. I would actually love to do that again someday for Christmas, when I have all my other stuff done in advanced, which may never happen.
Did you make soap with lye and everything? Because I just did melt-and-pour. I suspect that if I messed around with lye, I’d burn off a few fingers or something. It just wouldn’t be pretty, you know?
Looks like you did a really good job! I love making things, but candles and soap would be out of my league. I can just see the mess I would make. My big weekend adventure was going to the grocery store today…LOL My husband is off for the next two weeks and I wanted to make sure he had plenty of things to cook.
Well, the candles look good, but I was disappointed because I bought pine oil to scent them with and then I found out that it wasn’t the kind that could be used in candles, so I couldn’t put it in.
I really wanted pine scented candles! I think next time, I will just make the candle holders & not the candles themselves!
It’s so nice to have time off at the end of the year like that! I hope you get some time off for the holidays too.
Shopping was pretty easy this year, since I mainly only bought stuff for my nieces and nephews. We close on our house this Friday, so that’s my husband’s and my gift for ourselves
And we are taking our in-laws skiing this winter, so a travel based gift is a lot easier than buying everyone individual presents.
I haven’t attempted baking yet, but my coworker suggested baking dough in advance and freezing it, which sounds like good advice.
My husband and I never exchange gifts. I guess that’s our tradition.
Congratulations on your house–that is so exciting! Best Christmas present ever, right? 
I hope your move goes smoothly!
I was spending the weekend cleaning and getting ready for guests but my shopping had been done for a few weeks
I am so jealous of people who get their shopping done early. Waiting in those last-minute shopping lines at the mall is brutal–you’d think I’d learn my lesson eventually, but no!
Cool! I draw teh line at bath fizzies
Ha! I would think that the fizzies would be more complicated than soap and candles though? Hmm…