The time of year is coming up to start thinking
about novelty candles for the autumn season.
If you are looking for a new idea, you may wish
to create a different type of gel candle ... this one
is a jar full of "eyes" for Halloween. I made this
candle years ago and it's still holding up!
My "jar of eyes" candle ... gee, what a kooky idea
that was! ... is scented with green apple scent,
but there are many scents that go with this design.
And, your "eyes" don't have to be green!
If you would like to make such a candle, you will
need a bonbon type of candy mold, some marbles,
some hurricane candle (high melt point ... I think
it's around 165 degrees) paraffin wax and all of your
gel candle essentials. The high melt point wax is
important, as you don't want your wax to melt when
your gel is poured, plus it will hold up better over
time and won't become too cloudy. This candle
became a little cloudy over time, but it's been
several years.
To make the eyes, you simply place the marble
in the base of the bonbon mold ... this mold might
be referred to as a cherry bonbon. Pour your wax
over the marble ... it's best to allow wax to cool
just a bit before pouring into plastic candy molds
so you don't warp the mold. When your marble
bonbons are cooled, release them from the mold.
If wax is covering the marble, which will most
likely be the case, you can scrape it off, being
careful to not scratch your marble, or melt it
off carefully with a heat gun ... but, a hot spoon
can also help move the wax away from the
marble so the glass "eye" is exposed.
My gel was colored a light color green ... be careful
to not color this too dark! It's also important to make
sure your gel is not too hot when pouring ... allow to
cool a bit, and pour your candle slowly.
To fill the jar with the bonbons, I first poured
some gel into the jar and turned it all around to
coat the entire inside of the jar with a thin layer
of gel after securing my wick. Then I positioned
some of the "eyes" in the jar and poured some
slightly cooled gel over them, adding more eyes
and more gel until the jar was filled with the
"eyes" to about a half inch from the top ... then
I poured enough gel to give the top of the candle
a level surface. My candle cooled on a sunny
windowsill, and had very few bubbles! Just a
bunch of eyes staring out at me!
Another design that may interest you also employs
a candy mold ... this one being a thin mint type of
mold. This "full moon" candle may give you lots of
ideas!
After the wick was secured, the inside of the jar
was coated with gel ... then some gravel was
carefully sprinkled in the bottom.
Another inside layer was poured, although this
time, the "moon" was pressed into the gel up
against the glass immediately ... then, another
layer was poured, with the jar tilted in all
directions so gel encased the moon, with a
bit of glitter for embellishment. Finally,
the remainder of the candle was poured.
The moon doesn't really start to glow until
the candle has burned down a little, but when
the flame gets into the center of the candle,
it really has a nice effect!
