How to Make Rose Peony Candles with Tea
What?! A DIY project with tea? How fun and crafty you say? Agrees.
Making candles yourself is actually really easy. Plus, it’s a killer way to re-use those candle containers that you’ve burned to the bottom. Just scrape out the leftover wax and boom! New life for that expensive Anthro candle that made you cringe when you pulled out your credit card.
I’ve had the idea for a while to make candles using tea. I decided to make a candle using Townshend’s Rose Peony tea because I thought the rose petals would look super pretty. I also scented it with rose fragrance oil. But you could really use any tea and fragrance you want.
Earl Grey candle? Done.
Masala Chai candle? Do it.
Just know that the tea is a visual accent. It won’t actually affect the smell much if at all.
You can add a complimentary scent like rose or cinnamon to get that real candle fragrance if you want. The fragrance oil is the priciest part of this DIY so if you’re more budget conscious it’s not a must. On Amazon it’s between $5-$10 for the 1 oz of fragrance oil you would need for a 16 oz mason jar candle.
Okay! Let’s start the candle crafting in 10 easy steps!
1. Gather your supplies
2. Clean your container
Make sure your containers are completely clean and dry. If you’re using a container that previously held a candle, use a butter knife to remove the excess wax and hand wash the container.
3. Attach wick to container
Peel the back off one of your round stickers and affix to the metal bottom of the candle wick. Peel off the other side and press the sticker and wick to the bottom of your container so that the wick is secured.
Slide the top of the wick through the center of a wooden clothespin and let the clothespin sit across the top of your container. This will help the wick stay straight once you pour the wax.
4. Measure out the wax
Next you need to figure out how much natural soy wax you’ll need for each candle. Break out your digital scale for this part.
(Weight of container with water) - (Weight of container) = (Weight of wax you will need)
Or just use this handy calculator to figure it out.
Measure the amount of candle wax you need out into a separate bowl. Set aside.
5. Measure fragrance oil (if using)
Measure out 1 oz of fragrance oil for about every 1 lb of wax. A shot glass is 1.5 oz for reference.
Set aside.
6. Prep your double boiler
Fill your saucepan about ⅓ to ½ full with water.
If you’re using a glass measuring cup: Fill it with the measured candle wax and place the handle over the edge of the saucepan so that the measuring cup hangs with the bottom half in the water.
If you’re using a glass or metal bowl: Fill it with the measured candle wax and place over the saucepan (the bowl should be wider than the saucepan).
7. Melt your wax
Bring the water to a boil. Stir your wax every so often as it melts.
Once your wax flakes have completely melted, carefully remove the measuring cup or bowl from heat and place on a trivet. Wait 2 minutes and add your measured fragrance oil. Give a quick stir.
8. Pour your candle & add the tea!
Pour the melted wax into your prepared candle container.
After your wax has been poured, it’s time to break out the tea! Drop some of the Townshend's Rose Peony Tea on top of the wax and use your finger to gently push the tea just under the wax to coat it. You want to coat the tea in wax so that it won’t light on fire when you burn your candle.
Note: When I first tried this, I put the tea into my container before adding the wax hoping it would rise. It didn’t. That’s why we’re using the push-the-tea-under-the-wax method. Ignore the fact that the tea is already in the container in the pretty pic below ;)
9. Re-center your wick and let it set
So close! Now just re-center your wick and clothespin and place your candle somewhere it won’t be disturbed for the next 6 hours.
The wax will take a while to dry so if you need to fix your wick or decide to add more tea on top, you should have a little time.
Once the wax is dry, cut the excess wick to about ½ inch.
10. Enjoy!
Now comes the best part… actually enjoying this candle you totally DIY-ed all by yourself. Look at you. You Pinterested the hell out of that candle. Crafternooning like a pro. Winner.
