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Candle Pixie > Making Gel Candles
Making Gel Candles
Gel candles are interesting to burn and fun to make. Wouldn't you like to enrich your room with your own handmade fruit gel candles ?! Let's get started with the steps.
1. Choose a nice, non flammable container, preferably made of glass so you can see clearly inside the candle.
2. Position the pre-tabbed zink core wick on the bottom of the container using some hot glue and secure it by tying it to a toothpick or similar object positioned vertically on the top of container.
3. Melt your gel (use an electric pot or a pan on direct heat) until it reaches 200 degrees and then mix in some color. Use a liquid dye, as color blocks are probably going to cloud the gel, and start with only a tiny drop until you get the color you want.
4. Add the fragrance just before you pour the wax. Use only non polar fragrances with a flash point above 170 degrees and stir it thoroughly. Be careful not to let the temperature of the wax exceed 230 degrees at any point, as it will stink and burn.
5. Pour the gel in the container. The hotter the gel is when you're pouring it, the less bubbles are going to arise. You can also avoid bubbles by heating your container a little before pouring and by pouring slowly.
6. We're almost done - straighten the wick while the gel is still hot, leave the candle to cool for a couple of hours, trim the excess wick and your candle is ready!
The Art of Embedding
Most attractive gel candles are those with embedded items, so we'll also cover the basics of embedding objects within your candle.This is the part where you can really let your imagination soar, as the only requirement for an embedded object is for it to be non flammable. Wax fruit, marbles, pebbles and ceramic figurines are just a few items to consider.
While you can just put the object you're planning to embed directly into your container before you pour the gel wax, you should first dip it in the melting gel in order to fill any holes that it might have and prevent the forming of those nasty bubbles. You should also try to position it as close to the edge of the container as possible, to make it more visible.
If you followed the steps carefully, you are now a proud owner of a unique gel candle which you can enjoy yourself or give to someone as a special handmade gift. Congratulations!