Scented Crafts: Grubby Heart Candle

This candle is a little different than "Version 1"
in that is has whipped wax around the heart-
shaped can. Also, some candle gel and glitter
were added just under the surface of the top layer
of wax, so when the candle burns, the brighter
color emerges. As with Version 1, it serves
as a candle holder for future candles ... a
votive or tealight candle will fit into the body
of the candle once it has burned.

The can (a shallow aluminum pet food
can) was molded by hand by gripping
the can in palms of hand and bending it
to create a point on one end, although
when first bent, both sides of the can
will fold to a point. One of the points
becomes the bottom of the heart, and
the other one gets indented to create
the shape. To create the indent into
the top of the heart, a stick or wooden
spoon handle can be used, which is
most safely done on the floor so the
can won't slip while applying pressure
to create the indent. I set the can on
the floor, and, with pressure, made
an indent into the can with the spoon
handle pressed into the side of the can.

For the trim, using a "typical" box of
aluminum foil (with a built-in cutter),
a little over two inches of foil was cut,
for a piece of foil approx. 2 inches by
12 inches, which was folded over for
double thickness, making the strip
about a half an inch by 12 inches.

This was then wrapped around the can ...

You can begin wrapping around the edge of
the can at any starting point you like.
One strip of foil almost made it completely
around the can, although it came up just a
little short, so another piece of foil was cut
and folded ... about a half an inch by 5 inches.
To add the piece, simply overlap just a bit
with the foil that is already in place and
"crunch" it up so it holds. Also, as you work
around the edge of the can, pinch some of
the trim around the lip of the can, or overlap
in areas so the foil holds onto itself, as this
is not secured in any other way until the wax
is applied.

For the sides of the can, a band of foil was cut
and crinkled before wrapping. This piece was
cut to be just a little wider than the height of the
can and it crunches up under the trim to secure.

If you want to make these to give as gifts
or to sell ... an optional step is to cover the
bottom of the can with wax, giving it a
cleaner finish. I must mention that some
wick tab adhesives do not hold the tab on
through this waxing process due to the
heat on the bottom of the can, so the wick
needs to be mounted later ... after the can
has cooled down. And, as with all candles,
instructions should be given to set this on
a plate while burning ... but this should be
set on a plate at all times to not harm
finishes, especially if this wax is scented.

To get the wax on the bottom of the can,
I used an old ceramic plate. Wax was poured
into the plate so it formed a pool of wax and
then the can was set into the hot wax and
pressed down into the plate. This needs
to be allowed to cool completely before
removing. Also, splashes of wax were brought
up onto the sides of the can with the wax that
was poured into the plate. This shows the
bottom of the can (left side of photo) after
the wax has cooled, with remnant pieces
of wax still on the plate.

Then, the wick was secured with a wick
tab stuck to the bottom of the can, and,
I also lined the can with some wax,
which is another optional step.

For coloring, I started with a dark burgundy
and lightened it as the project moved along.
This gives a bit more contrast to the layers
of wax on the sides of the can, which I feel
has a nice look to it. In other words, I melted
enough of the dark color to cover the bottom
and sides of the can, with just a bit left over.
Then, using the leftover wax, I added more
wax for the next layer, without adding any
more colorant. This gave me a wax a shade
lighter than the first batch.

For the candle part, I used a soy container
wax, with some of the retained dark wax
mixed with a hint of blue ... here is the
candle when it was poured, with the use
of a poultry lacer, one of my favorite
candle making tools, bridged across the
can to hold the wick in place.

If desired, this candle can be topped with
some whipped wax and called completed
at this point. But, I was curious to try
something ... what I ended up with was
a candle that "colored up" a bit more
upon lighting. Of course, you could do
this simply by pouring a darker wax.
Although the pastel wax is pretty and
with even just a thin layer of candle
gel, the candle may burn a little longer,
especially if the container wax is a
regular candle wax and not a soy wax.
This candle burned for a little over
20 hours. So, the gel can serve a
purpose in this case, beyond adding
a layer of color, since it adds to the
burn time. I must also mention
that you could use candle gel to
fill this candle completely, if desired.

I chose to experiment with the
mixture of waxes a bit, so here is
how this process went ...

After the soy cooled, the center of the
candle sunk just a bit, in the shape of
a heart in the center ... I filled this with
a dark red candle gel, which I then
needed to "distress" to create a bit of
a "rough" surface for binding with
the other waxes, as it was too slippery.
In other words ... it could slide right off!
After that, I covered it with candle
wax mixed with soy, which was then
purposely cracked upon cooling and
pressed together to give a bit of
decorative look to the center of the
top of the candle.

Here is how it looked ... this is the
center of the candle (a little hard to
see the wick from this angle ... can
be seen better in pictures below. )

Here are the holes and perforations in
the gel layer ... by pouring wax on top
of this, the wax pours through sections of
the gel, melting with the container wax,
holding the gel in place.

This is what this looked like ... pretty, huh?

Once this was completed some white
wax was poured into the heart shape
in the center of the candle (over the
gel layer), with some bright pink glitter
sprinkled around the edges of the gel.
Before it was completely hardened,
I poured a bit of soy wax over the wax
and "roughed" it up a bit as it cooled ...
punching a fork into it a bit and
making slash marks with a knife,
which made it into little flakes, that
were quickly pressed together
while still warm (as mentioned
above.)

To finish the candle, whipped
wax was applied around the
outer edge on top of the foil.
This was done in little "clumps"
all around, working in an outward
direction so that most of the
wax would fall toward the outer
edges of the candle.

Here is the finished result ...