Beeswax candles are our newest obsession! Not only is pure beeswax a beautiful golden color, it has a cleansing effect on the air in your home. Beeswax is naturally scented. I love the scent. It's fresh and pretty, but not overpowering… a little bit like honey! We purchased 5 pounds of pure beeswax from this Etsy shop and made more than ten candles with it. Here's how-
1. Supplies: beeswax, jars, candle wick, scissors, and masking tape. 2. Begin by heating up the wax on the stove in a pot to 140°F. You don't want the temperature to exceed 185°F. Pour a small layer into the base of a jar and place a piece of candle wick into the center of the jar. 3. Hold this in place until the wax is dry enough to where the the wick stays in place. 4. Next, make an X with tape over the top of the jar, poke a hole through the top and pull the wick through. Fill up the jar with melted wax til the desired height. We filled ours 1/2 an inch from the top. 5. After the wax is completely solid, cut the wick so that it's 1/2 inch tall. 6. Light + enjoy your pretty, new candles!
I am so excited to enjoy these natural candles in my new home. I've read that they don't leave any black soot behind when they burn. Have you used (or made) beeswax candles in the past? What do you think? xo. elsie
112 Comments
Oh my, those are too cute.
http://thewanderingelefant.blogspot.com/
I really love this idea 🙂
i love beeswax candles! I made them when I was pretty young, but I think I need to make them again! I love the smell of beeswax.. very subtle. thanks for the inspiration! XO
So cute in mason jars! Thanks 🙂
These are so pretty! And what wonderful gifts they will make for the holidays.
I can’t wait to try them!
Love from,
Greta
too cute! Love the idea!
I love the scent of beeswax too! How cool that you can buy beeswax off etsy!
/Brittan
Fantastic gifts! I’ve been intending to experiment with candle making for ages.Rx
http://sandersonsmithstory.blogspot.co.uk/
Man…I just love you guys. What a good idea.
I’m excited to try this.
Vintagehoneybee.blogspot.com
these look great, I love how beeswax smells, just slightly sweet but still natural, not that keen on having artificial scents in the house
What did you use to heat them to 140 degrees? A pot over the stove and a candy thermometer? Or did you heat them in one of the jars? Is 140 degrees important, or do you just have to make sure it’s completely melted? Thanks! 🙂
Oooh, this might be a good gift idea! Thanks for the post! 🙂
Fun!
http://slidingdrawersblog.blogspot.com/
Mmm, I love the smell of beeswax too. I am definitely going to have a go at making these. Thank you for sharing the DIY!
http://www.futurusticblog.com/
I just love this DIY. I was just thinking this week about making my own candles in vintage cups but I thought it should be really complicated…
Now I just want to do it now….thanks 🙂
Love Beeswax!!! Will have to make some of these candles!
A little tip on the wick, I prefer a wired wick to keep the wick from drooping over into the wax and fizzling out. Thanks for the inspiration!
How fun! They look adorable too 🙂
I can’t wait to try this!!
I love the smell of beeswax in autumn.
http://lecoursdeschoses.blogspot.com
Love these!
Skye,
We melted ours in a pot. You probably wouldn’t want to use the glass jar, in case it got too hot and shattered.
Wax can be very flammable, so you don’t want the temperature to get too high. We suggest no hotter than 185°F.
Thanks!
Red Velvet Staff
How fun!!! I wanna try….
Love,
Stephanie May*
http://www.maydae.com
These are so lovely- I love the jars you’ve used, they kind of look like honeycomb! You can also use old teacups to make teacup candles, I’ve done that with soy wax before & they are so pretty.
How do you get the wick to stay upright when it is burning though? I had problems with my wicks drooping into the wax unless I used a wick stabiliser.
http://xoxo-sam.blogspot.co.uk/
These are pretty!
Beeswax smells delicious! I used it for my graduationproduct, Laatbloeier, an outdoorlamp.
http://jetscholte.nl/default.aspx?id=44
I really need to order new wax to make this candles. Thanks for the inspiration!
Nice!!
http://www.creativityandchocolate.blogspot.com
Lovely idea. I love candles in all their forms and most of their scents. I would really love to try this.
I used to make beeswax candles in primary school! Not the ones in the jars but the long classic one you see on the Christmas table. And yes, we made them for Christmas for the parents 🙂
Of course you also have to melt the wax and after that you dip a long wick into the wax. Let it dry about 10 (?) seconds and dip it again. You can repeat this as many times as you like. Just until the candle has the perfect size. It was always a lot of fun and it smells so good!
I think I’m gonna try this one very soon since all my Jankee Candles burned up and they are way to expensive here in Europe!
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Love, Sari
I used to make candles all the time, but never with bees wax, and never in such cute containers. I’m going to have to get back into it. Thank you for reminding me of the fun I used to have making them.
Amanda
http://www.thissweetcraziness.blogspot.com
So simple yet so very cute!
this diy is just in time for fall. love it and can’t wait to give it a try!
I’ve made these candles once before, but it was a complete fail.. So i’m going to give it a go again, sometime soon.
http://bravebrunette.blogspot.com
I second the question about how you heated the wax! Is it okay to just use normal pots? And is there any special cleaning you need to do/any way to make sure it doesn’t damage the pots?
Absolutely LOVE!! Wonderful idea!
http://mergestyle.blogspot.com
I love the jars you have used – you don’t get jam jars that pretty over here in the uk!
I’ll definitely have to keep this in mind for wedding decor! Yellow is one of my colors 🙂
http://whiskeybreakfast.blogspot.com
I have a random question, haha. I have been following your blog for awhile now, and I was wondering what you two did with all the beautiful crafts you do? Do they go home with you? Are they turned into presents? Just wondering…
Silver from A Silver Snapshot
http://starthinker-silverbarter.blogspot.ca/
where did you find your mason jars? I really like them! Cant wait to try this. I was thinking about trying this by reusing wax left over from a candle. The scent is amazing and just seems like a waste to throw out the wax!
Wow, I had no idea making candles was so easy AND you get can everything from etsy! It makes me wonder what other cool stuff esty has! I think I need to make these.
Makinglittleadventures.blogspot.com
Oh wow! I didn’t know that they didn’t leave any soot behind (i’ve heard that about soy candles) or that they clean the air. I would love to make some 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Interesting idea!
http://beautylovesbooks.com
these are adorable! you’ve given me such a great idea for holiday gifts!
abigail
http://www.farandwildjewelry.blogspot.com
Love this candle idea…want to try!
My boyfriend was on a beeswax candle-making kick for awhile, and I loved it! That wax burns really nicely. The best part is that once it’s all burned out, you can just boil the remaining wax out, clean the jar, and re-use it for another candle! 🙂 It’s fun to put a few drops of essential oil in them too, to change it up.
Super cute!
I have never used beewax before but now I really want to give it a try !
Wow! Awesome! I love beeswax candles so I can’t wait to try this.
Xx
http://kendra-genevieve-rose.blogspot.com
LOVE!
Val
http://valentinaduracinsky.blogspot.com/
I only use beeswax or soy candles inside, although I’ve never made my own, but by chance was just looking up a How-to the other day! Yours turned out very nicely.
Loulou
Very cool. I’ve never made candles and this makes me want to give it a go! What a great fall craft.
Have you experimented at all with adding other scents to the candles? Just curious about how well the beeswax scent would work with additional fragrances.
These are lovely!
I love burning candles, but I stopped using them when I learned that parafin adds pollutants to the air. I’d like to look in to the air cleansing properties of beeswax. Do you have any links to get me started.
Brie- here’s one. http://blog.beliefnet.com/freshliving/2009/03/do-beeswax-candles-clean-the-air.html I’m excited to learn more too! 🙂 thanks for reading!
These are so cute. What a great holiday gift for teachers/friends. Thanks for sharing girlies 🙂
I love that they’re in mason jars! It looks simple and fun to do!
Theresa
http://bomamma.blogspot.com
So pretty and simple, can’t wait to make my own!
I love this idea! You ladies are so creative!
xoxo Sarah
theantiquepearl.blogspot.com
this looks beautiful!
I am tempted to try this. I am thinking of getting some plain jars and alcohol inking them to make them pretty colours.
Sam
http://liveandlove.typepad.com
We have these in our home, like you said the smell is divine! i love the ritual of making them also. I love that the are completely natural also.
Zoe
http://gypsiesister.blogspot.co.uk
This is really cool, but I’m pretty sure I’m lacking all the necessary skills to make it…
I used to make these as a child. They leave the most beautiful soothing smell in your house. Went to the market the other day and bought a handful. Might just have to light them tonight! x
I just like the ways these look. So cheery. 😀
beautiful idea, especially for a gift for Christmas. Thank you! 🙂
Like the creative input and the eco-friendly idea of using natures own ressources to create some useful and beautiful :o)
What a great idea for a homemade christmas gift!
Thank you soooo much for sharing…I must make these for gifties!!!
love beeswax and soy candles! Both are great, leaving no residue or pollutants in the air.
My mom used to make beeswax taper candles from sheets of beeswax…super easy. You simply add your wick and roll!
I am off to go purchase from beeswax from this lovely etsy shop now- thanks for the wonderful reminder of these! 🙂
I’ve made candles before, but I’ve never made them with beeswax before. I’m going to have to try this out!
-Alyssa
The Glossy Life
I love love love making candles! Never tried beeswax, but I will definitely be making some of these this winter.
Thanks ladies!
Trish
http://www.jellybonesblog.blogspot.com
Love this for Christmas!
I had one candle like that and I enjoyed it 🙂
I’ll try to make one…
Very cute! x
LOVE beeswax candles. When I was a little girl a bee keeper lived up the hill from me, and one time I was invited in to see the huge vat that he heated all the wax in to make candles! Pretty amazing.
I don’t know about them not smoking at all when they burn, though. A great tip for burning any candles is to trim the wick in between uses. This prevents the candle from smoking and may help prevent the droopy wicks that everyone seems to have a problem with!
The beeswax will not throw up soot, but the wicks might – check how the wicks are made when you buy a roll.
Extra idea! Thank you. Agnes.
Hey Elsie!
I love beeswax candles and I love using jars for everything: they add such a unique feel to ones home! This is an amazing idea and I really look forward to trying it! Where did you purchase your beeswax? Another great idea is melting it into large shells from the beach to create a summery candle 🙂 I really love you blog!
-fellow craft lover
totally doing this for family/friends’ holiday gifts!
I wanna try this so bad!! I’ve been wanting to learn how to make my own candles for a while now. I’m a big fan of candles 😀
Love the idea, I’ll have to try this out! 🙂
This is amazing! I’ve been looking for a natural alternative to scented candles with a new baby in the house.
These look so simple and pretty! And now I’m itching to smell the smell of beeswax cause I’m not sure I know what it smells like! (i used the word “smell” a little too often in this sentence).
I made them when I was pretty young, but I think I need to make them again! I love the smell of beeswax.
http://www.buywholesaledvd.com/
Great idea I love the color. http://abeautifulmess.com/2012/09/caramel-apple-martini.html
I’ve loved bees/beehives/beeswax for a long time and I feel a particular mania about them right now…maybe it’s because I recently got a beehive tattoo and I’m trying to live up to it? Whatever the case may be, I love these and want to pick up some random thrift store glasses to make some!
These would make nice gifts, or even favors on a smaller scale.
http://www.leslimarie.com
I love the idea of making my own candles. I’ve always wanted to try and this is such a simple and straight forward way of doing it. Thank you.
~Kristi
messofadreamerdesign.blogspot.com
Great idea to use natural beeswax! For the poster who mentioned wired wick, please make sure the wire isn’t made of harmful metals (they used to use lead in them).
too cute! will be trying this one!
http://girl-palace.blogspot.com
Love this! I’m really curious about the scent, but trust you that it’s nice! Definitely want to give them a try. 🙂
these are so cute!! can you add essential oils to the wax to add a scent, or does the beeswax have a natural scent? i love the color- its perfect for fall!!
you guys make candle making look easy!
ps: yay! for missouri lady bloggers! (I’m in kansas city.) when i get my car up and running, i’m going to take a mini road trip out to y’alls store. 🙂
xox,
dayna @ mothspit.com
What is the lifespan of a beeswax candle compared to a paraffin one ? Does it last longer? Thanks!
This is really cute, I definately want to try this 🙂 I’ve purchased some beeswax before and made lipbalms by adding essential oils and honey and stuff, they’re really lovely 🙂
Beautiful mess indeed I love making them though they’re great stress relief and they could be given as gifts multi purpose items are great.
When I read this blog post last week, I immediately began planning my own candle making project. Now, I have just come home from gathering everything I need and I’m about to get started. Your instructions are so simple, I’m confident that even though they won’t (and don’t have to) be perfect, my first time candle making will be a success.
Thank you for the inspiration! <3
Wow your candles are beautiful! I was just given 20 lbs of beeswax and I’m looking for fun things to create with it!
Excited to try this!!! Awesome!:)
I made beeswax candles and used the beef bones for the holders. (Of course, they were scrubbed after the dog was done with them)
Wow its Amazing …. its really lovely
great post nice thanks for sharing …
Finally something to do with all those jars I end up collecting! knew there was a reason… -jb.
http://madewithlovebyjackieb.blogspot.co.uk/
where did you get jars?
some are not mason jars right? (the ones like diamond cut)
also, the post on temperature…
what is the answer to that?
awesome idea….
not sure i know the scent of natural beeswax, intriguing…
This is the loveliest idea! Now I only need to figure out how to get hold of beeswax in my area or if Internet is the only way…
Great idea. Think I’m going to use vintage teacups for this. I guess the best way to pour is with a ladle?
So simple! I just followed your instructions this morning, but used waste wax and candle stumps from my old beeswax candles. (I hope beeswax is reusable…?)
I love all of your inspiring ideas thanks 🙂
This site is amazing and very nice and i like this site and i hope every one like it!
what size (diameter) wick are you using for the mason jars? i have 5 kilos of pure beeswax which i need to strain (a few little legs and wings) and use up.
These are adorable!
They’ll make a great holiday gift 🙂
Hi, if I wanted to add a sent to these beeswax candles is that possible and if so how ? /How much etc? Thanks!