You can use almost any small glass container to make these Beeswax & Honey Candles. That includes food jars, Mason jars, or empty candle containers. Just save any that look like the perfect size and give them a thorough wash. It’s a great way to reuse glass containers and candles are a perfect gift.
All you need from there is beeswax, wicks, and Pure Honey Fragrance Oil. The notes of honey, rose, and peach tea are the perfect complement to the natural smoky smell of beeswax. The wood wicks give the candles a rustic look and a comforting crackling sound as they burn.
Beeswax is a hard, dense wax that has a high melting point. It needs a large flame to create an even burn pool. We recommend making these candles in containers that have a diameter of about 3″ or less. In our tests, the wide wood wicks worked well for containers with a diameter of about 2.5″ and smaller. Other large wicks, like the Wu-250 Brown Cotton Candle Wicks or the Cd-20 Wicks, also work well.
The amount of beeswax and fragrance you need for this project will depend on the size and quantity of your containers. To estimate how much wax you need, put your containers on a scale and fill them with water. Add up the total weight of the water – that will give you a rough estimate of how much wax to melt. Then, use the Fragrance Calculator to find out how much scent to use. We recommend using the strong recommendation so the scent fills the room.
The hardest part of this project is probably the cleanup. Beeswax can be a pain to clean off bowls, containers, and mixing utensils. If possible, have a bowl and mixing tool that’s just for wax. If that’s not an option, the easiest way to clean bowls is while the wax is still warm – wipe off as much as possible with a paper towel before washing it with very hot water and strong dish soap.
What You Need:
Small Glass Containers
Yellow Beeswax
Pure Honey Fragrance Oil
Wide Wooden Wicks
NOTE: Other large wicks like the Wu-250 Brown Cotton Candle Wicks or Cd-20 Wicks work as well
NOTE: You can melt beeswax a few different ways – we recommend using a double boiler. It’s possible to melt it in the microwave, but because beeswax has a high melting point it takes a long time to melt. The container needs to be very heat resistant so it won’t break.
PREPARE WICKS: Insert the wood wicks into the metal clip. Place the wick into the containers and cut the wick to the length necessary for each container. If you’re using a traditional wick, cut the wicks to the length necessary for each container.
ONE: Set up your double boiler and bring the water to boil. Place the smaller container over the water.
TWO: Weigh how much beeswax you need to fill your containers. To estimate how much wax you need, put your containers on a scale and fill them with water. Add up the total weight of the water – that will give you a rough estimate of how much wax to melt.
THREE: Melt the wax slowly. Don’t allow it to exceed about 170° F, or it can start to lose its aroma.
FOUR: Once the wax is completely melted, turn off the double boiler and remove the smaller container of wax. Add the Pure Honey Fragrance Oil and stir in thoroughly.
NOTE: Pure Honey Fragrance Oil has a flashpoint of 200° F+. In general, it’s recommended that fragrance is poured into wax that has cooled below the flashpoint of the fragrance oil. We poured in the fragrance when the wax was around 150° F.
FIVE: Carefully pour the wax into each container. We transferred it to an Easy Pour Mixing and Measuring Container to help.
TIP: Pouring the wax into the container with the wick already placed in the candle helps ensure you don’t pour too much and cover the top of the wick. Once the wax is poured, the wick can be moved and centered.
SIX: Allow the candles to fully cool and harden. If there are a few air bubbles or imperfections on the top of your candle, use a heat gun to carefully melt the top layer and allow it to cool again.
NOTE: We found the wood wicks eventually begin to burn slightly with a lot of high heat from the gun.
SEVEN: Allow the candles to fully cool and harden. Light the wick and enjoy!
- Small Glass Containers
- Yellow Beeswax
- Pure Honey Fragrance Oil
- Wide Wooden Wicks, Wu-250 Brown Cotton Candle Wicks, or Cd-20 Wicks
- Set up your double boiler and bring the water to boil. Place the smaller container over the water.
- Weigh how much beeswax you need to fill your containers. To estimate how much wax you need, put your containers on a scale and fill them with water. Add up the total weight of the water – that will give you a rough estimate of how much wax to melt.
- Melt the wax slowly. Don’t allow it to exceed about 170° F, or it can start to lose its aroma.
- Once the wax is completely melted, turn off the double boiler and remove the smaller container of wax. Add the Pure Honey Fragrance Oil and stir in thoroughly. NOTE: Pure Honey Fragrance Oil has a flashpoint of 200° F+. In general, it’s recommended that fragrance is poured into wax that has cooled below the flashpoint of the fragrance oil. We poured in the fragrance when the wax was around 150° F.
- Carefully pour the wax into each container. We transferred it to an Easy Pour Mixing and Measuring Container to help. TIP: Pouring the wax into the container with the wick already placed in the candle helps ensure you don’t pour too much and cover the top of the wick. Once the wax is poured, the wick can be moved and centered.
- Allow the candles to fully cool and harden. If there are a few air bubbles or imperfections on the top of your candle, use a heat gun to carefully melt the top layer and allow it to cool again. NOTE: We found the wood wicks eventually begin to burn slightly with a lot of high heat from the gun.
- Allow the candles to fully cool and harden. Light the wick and enjoy!
Would this work well as a wax tart for warmers?
Beeswax has a pretty high melt point so it would probably have a hard time melting in a warmer. I would try using one of our soy waxes to make wax tarts.
EcoSoya Advanced Soy Wax: https://www.brambleberry.com/shop-by-product/ingredients/waxes/ecosoya-advanced-soy-wax/V000838.html
I have Beeswax Organic Pastilles left over from another product. Would these work as well as the yellow beeswax? Are they the same thing, different name?
Also, where is your fragrance calculator? I searched for it using your web search box and nothing came up? It might be helpful to hyperlink that within the tutorial.
Thank you!
I am not sure about the pastilles but I would probably think they are similar since they are both beeswax. The fragrance calculator is located here: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
I use way more fragrance than that
What are your thoughts on using tea cups for containers? I inherited a bunch and think they would look amazing. Don’t want any explosions tho.
We’ve honestly never tried it – check with the manufacturer to get their recommendation.
This looks like a great gift idea. Can I use your candle tins for the container or does it have to be glass? If metal is ok, do wood wicks work with them? This will be my first time to make candles.
You can definitely use the candle tins, we just like the way that glass looks with the beeswax! You can use the wood wicks but you would want to use the wide ones because of the diameter of the container.
I’m so excited to try something new and make this candle! However, I’ve been reading that it’s hard to find the right wick to use with beeswax…not sure if this is true? If so, how do the wooden wicks compare to the other wicks that you recommend?
Finding the perfect wick for beeswax can be tricky. Though in our testing we found the Wide Wooden Wicks to work well.
Wide Wooden Wicks: https://www.brambleberry.com/Wide-Wooden-Wicks-P6971.aspx
Thanks for the wonderful tutorial! My sister and I love to make candles in repurposed containers from thrift stores and garage sales. In clear containers, we like to use palm wax for its lovely, shimmery patterns; it to is tricky with the burn pool.
I have a large quantity of white beewax at home….can I use it instead of yellow beewax? I know it’ll be white instead of yellow color. 😁
You can definitely use white beeswax if you’d prefer.
And how much fragrance oil are we supposed to use?
We typically recommend using 0.5oz. of fragrance oil per pound of candle wax.