Candle making is a fun, easy way to relax and be creative. Plus, you get to enjoy the finished product! Making tea light candles is no exception, it’s a fun, easy and affordable way to add a touch of glamour to any room. Best of all, you can customize the look to match your own personal style. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to make beautiful tea light candles with just a few simple steps. So gather up your supplies and let’s get started!
What do you need to make tea light candles at home?
The first step to making your own tea light candles are making sure you have all the necessary materials to hand, here’ a list of what you will need:
- Tea light candles
- A mould for the candle, typically tealight cups but you can use other DIY solutions
- Wax
- Tea light wicks (TL15/s.33 40mm)
- Double boiler or a pot to melt the wax in
- Stirring stick
- Scissors
You can also have some fragrance oil if you wish to add it – but we’ll talk more about this later in the article.
These Wax Melts Would Go Perfectly With Your Tea Lights!
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Deli Pot Wax Melts
£2.50 -
Saturn Spice Bomb
£2.50 -
One Million Moons
£2.50
How to make a tea light candle (step by step)
Making your own tealight candles is a fun and easy project that you can do at home. With just a few simple supplies, you can create beautiful candles that will add a touch of ambience to any room. Here’s how to make your own tealight candles – it’s really quite easy!
1. Gather your supplies. You will need a tealight mould, some wax, wicks, and a heating element.
2. Melt the wax. Place the wax in a heat-safe container and melt it using a double boiler or a microwave, when it’s up to temperature. If you are using a microwave, be sure to stir the wax occasionally to prevent it from burning.
3. Pour the wax into the mould. Once the wax has melted, carefully pour it into the tealight mould. Fill the mould to the top of the wick.
4. Allow the wax to cool. Once the wax has cooled and hardened, your tealight candle is ready to use. Light the wick and enjoy the soft, calming light of your homemade candle. You may have to trim the wick slightly if it’s too big.
What wax should you use to make tea lights candles?
The best wax to use for tea light candles is paraffin wax. Paraffin wax is a type of petroleum-based wax that is easy to melt and poured. It also has a high melting point, which means it will hold its shape well once it has cooled.
Can you add fragrance to your tea light candles?
Yes, you can add fragrance to tea light candles if you wish – although many don’t opt to as it can interfere with the scent of a wax melt you are using the tea light to burn. To make scented tea lights however you simply add a few drops of fragrance oil to the melted wax before pouring it into the mould. The fragrance oil will be dispersed throughout the wax as it cools, resulting in a beautifully scented tea light candle.
What size wick should you use for the tealight candle?
The best size wick to use for tea light candles is a TL15/s.33 40mm wick. This size of wick will ensure that your candle burns evenly and slowly, giving you the perfect amount of light.
You can get these wicks in a variety of different candle supply shops and they are relatively speaking inexpensive.
Ideas to upcycle your tea light cups when you’re done with them
We’re eco-conscious here at Gracie Moon Scents, so as an added extra to this article, we thought we would provide you with some ideas of what you can do with your tea light candles once you’re done with them, you don’t have to just throw away the cups. There are a few different ways that you can upcycle them and give them a new lease on life.
-Use them as plant pots. Simply wash out the cup and remove any residual wax before potting up a small plant or succulent.
-Use them as storage containers. Small items such as beads, buttons, and other craft supplies can be stored in used tealight cups.
-Use them as organisers. Create a DIY desk organiser by glueing together several tealight cups. You can use them to hold pens, pencils, paperclips, and other office supplies.
There are endless possibilities for upcycling tealight cups – so get creative and see what you can come up with!