Make your own Christmas candles

So many home decor stores are flouting these gorgeous, shaped, pillar candles for the Holidays. Did you know you can make your own Christmas candles for less than 1/10th the price? This adorable tree came it at less than $1!

Good morning everyone!

I have a fun and easy project for you today, with lots of impact and very little cost. The best kind of projects right?

I have started a little side-hustle called Dirty Girls Soaps & Decor where I make soaps, cement vessels, and candles. While I don’t have a very big online presence, I have had two local stores stock my items! (insert happy dance)

Nothing I do is rocket science; I tried, then practiced, then practiced more and have figured out my “flow”.

Today I’m going to show you how to make your own Christmas candles and save mucho buckos from store bought.

Christmas Candles supplies

paraffin wax for pillar candles
silicone molds
wick-threading tool
crayons
candle wicks
old pot to melt wax in
popsicle stick

First up – paraffin wax for pillar candles. You don’t need to buy a massive block like I did – you could just grab a couple/few pillar candles from the dollar store to melt down. In fact, if you buy pillar candles from the dollar store, they will have wicks already in them that you can reuse for your Christmas candles.

I picked up a few different silicone molds from Temu. I know, I know – there is a lot of negative hype about Temu, but I used PayPal (and not my credit card) and I actually found that the prices are ridiculously cheap and shipping was fast.

These tree molds ran about $4 each, but there are cheaper and more expensive options as well.

Melt the paraffin wax over the stove or induction burner.

While the wax is melting, thread your wick through a popsicle stick with a hole drilled in the centre. You could skip this step, but I found it better for keeping the wick taught and centred when the wax is hardening.

Next, use your wick-threader, or candle-making-punch tool to poke a hole in the top of your tree mold.

I punched my hole and then folded part of the silicone mold back so that I could access the hook portion more easily.

Wrap your wick into the hook section of the wick-threader and then pull the tool and wick back through the top of the mold.

If you want your candle to have colour, I’ve found the least expensive way to do it is to melt about ½ a crayon in 2 cups of melted wax.

The green was a bit bright for my liking, so I broke off a small piece of a black crayon to add to the green to make it more “evergreen”.

The next part gets a little futzy… depending on your candle mold and how many nooks and crannies it has, you’ll find that air gets trapped. This leaves your Christmas candle with holes – usually at the ends of the branches. To combat this, I pour the melted wax to about 1/3 up the mold and then squeeze the air out of the bottom branches. I pinch and squeeze until I’m confident that I’ve removed as much air as I can.

Repeat this with the 2nd section of the Christmas candle as well. It’s not as easy to do when you reach the top of the mold, but slight tapping will release some trapped air.

Slide the popsicle stick down the wick until it rests on the top of the mold and then pull the wick straight and taught through the centre of the candle.

Your Christmas tree candle volume will shrink as they harden, so keep a bit of wax in the pot to re-melt and top up where needed.

Once hard, cut your wick as close to the bottom of the candle as possible and remove your trees from the molds. Most of the molds I bought were really malleable, so it was very easy to release the wax from the mold and then fold the silicone back until the candle popped out.

These candles make great place settings, can be used to decorate a centrepiece on your dining table, can be set in powder rooms or on nightstands.

Note: you will need a dish to catch the wax as it melts.

I did a test run on a 5″ Christmas tree candle, and it had a burn time of about 90 minutes.

These are so pretty, and if you use Temu and the dollar store for supplies, you can make them for less than a dollar each. The silicone molds can be used over and over, so are great to keep around for next year as well.

Just for a bit of perspective, these candles – almost identical except for an inch larger in height – are on sale at Crate & Barrel right now for $12.99 (click image to be taken to store)