Jewish Candle-My DIY Candle Experience 

Before You Get Started: What You’ll Need

This recipe is a great starting point. Use the recipe (just wax and wicks) and customize with your favorite scents (I love to combine rosemary and lavender essential oils) or go all natural with no added scents. 

Candle Ingredients 

• 4 cups of wax: either soy wax flakes or beeswax pellets
• 2 wicks: Wicks with a metal base are the easiest to work with. I have no experience with wooden wicks.
• (OPTIONAL) 1 teaspoon dried herbs, 60 drops essential oils, or fragrance oils: For naturally-scented candles. Fragrance oils have a stronger, longer-lasting scent, but most fragrance oils are not natural. Essential oils have a very subtle scent. And dried herbs, like dried lavender or dried rosemary, may be used for decoration.

​Candle-Making Equipment

• Small cooking pot/saucepan: You’ll fill this pot with water to make a double boiler. The wax will not come into contact with this pot, so use what you have in the kitchen.
• Wax melting pot: Such as a medium-size glass mixing bowl, metal mixing bowl, tall glass measuring cup, or candle pourer. You’ll never be able to use this pot for anything other than candle making, as the wax will adhere to the pot and be difficult to scrape off and remove. 
• 2 8-ounce heat-safe jars: mason jars, glass jam jars, tin cans, tea cups, etc. Or use 4 4-ounce jars for smaller candles. Any kind of high-rimmed, heat-proof jar will work for candle making. 
• 2 clothespins or mechanical pencils: For keeping the tall wicks upright in the jars.
• 2 washcloths or small towels: This isn’t required. Insulting the outside of the candle jar with a towel can prevent the wax from cooling too fast which may cause shrinkage and cracks at the top of the candle.
• 1 wooden skewer, popsicle stick, or chopstick: Also not required, unless adding a fragrance. For stirring the fragrance into the melted wax. Use something you can toss (or purposely reuse for candle-making) as wax will adhere to this utensil.