I don’t know about you, but I love candles. Particularly in the winter months when it gets dark so early. My addiction got solidified when I lived in Denmark for a year and feel in love with the way they light candles morning, noon and night in the spirit of creating a hygge (insert hygge article) life and environment.

Seeing as I work in natural medicine and believe in natures way of providing us with so many great smells and mediums for burning, I have a hard time buying candles that aren’t rooted in natural aroma therapy or waxes. But this can also mean I could put myself in a bit of a financial hole as candles can often run 30, 40, 50 and unto $100 a pop sometimes!

Luckily, with just a bit of work sourcing the materials, you can actually whip up some pretty awesome candles at a low cost easily.

I love doTERRA for my oils as their quality is unbelievably high which makes the smell super clean and potent. I use bees wax when I can (not always so reasonable but such a clean an wonderful smell) or I use soy wax.

I like to play around with the scents making citronella candles for the backyard in the summer and sage candles for my morning meditations or sacred space time. I love the fresh citrus smells for the kitchen or to brighten up a room and anything piney or woodsy around the holidays. Candles are great little ways to add some warmth, intention and ritual into your everyday life as well. I often light one with a solid intention for good work that comes from the heart when I sit down in my home office. I light them to start the day to call in the healing energy an respect for all that pass through the door at the clinic. I light up the room when entertaining and just generally love to bring that special little bit more in to a gathering. It just makes things feel a bit more intentional, a bit more grounded and special. And who doesn’t need that in our busy day to day world?

DIY Candle making

Makes 1 16oz. candle, or many smaller candles depending on size of containers you have

INGREDIENTS

  • Clean, dry containers (any combination of sizes that will hold approximately 16 fluid oz. of liquid. I just small mason jars, old candle containers or just collect face cream jars or even condiment jars that look pretty and then use them.
  • Candle wicks (I use these)
  • Tape
  • 4 cups soy wax flakes
  • Essential Oils (7ish drops per cup of melted wax)

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Set the glass containers on a clean, dry dishtowel. Cut a piece of wick for each container that is 4 inches longer than the container is tall. Place a small piece of double-sided tape in the bottom centre of each container. Tie a knot at the end of each wick. Press the knot firmly into the double-sided tape to lightly secure. Leave the free end of the wick hanging over the side of the container.
  2. Fill a sauce pan to the top with wax flakes. Place the pan over low-medium heat. As the wax begins to melt, after about 5 minutes, gently stir it until all of the wax becomes smooth and pourable.
  3. Remove the wax from the heat and let it cool for about 5 minutes. Add essential oils, if using, and stir to combine.
  4. Pour wax into prepared jars, leaving 1 inch of space at the top of each jar. Center the free end of the wick in the wax. Twist the wick around a pencil, knife or wooden skewer. Let the wax dry for at least an hour. Cut the wick so that only about 1 inch remains.

 

Make your own candles. Hygge Life. Winter. Cozy. Self-care. Natural Medicine.