These candles are fun and easy to make. Best of all, they don't have to be perfect. The difference and imperfections in them are what make them truly unique. The candles above were made using a 3 x 3.5 inch round pillar mold.
These are the supplies I used to make these candles:
- Cajun's IGI-4625 Pillar Wax
- Cajun's 51-32-18z six-inch Wick
- Cajun's red and blue dye
- Cajun's Vanilla Bake Fragrance Oil
- Cajun's 3 x 3.5 round pillar mold
- Cajun's 3 inch Wick Pin
When making these candles, we're going to pour our wax cooler than what you're used to when making a pillar candle. Pouring cooler is what allows the red, white and blue colors to remain distinct and not run together. If we pour too hot, we'd have lots of red and blue mixed together and the white part of the candle would have red and blue smeared throughout. Pouring cooler will also produce a rustic type look on the candle that I really like. No two candles will be the same.
To achieve the red, white and blue colors, we used 10 drops of our concentrated red dye to make the red, and 10 drops of our blue dye to make the blue. We did not use any dye for the white. We used our Vanilla Bake for all three flavors, but if you choose, you can make them all different scents or none at all.
Step 1 - Prepare Your Mold
We use a wick pin in it to make things easier. Insert the wick pin through the bottom of the mold and apply a liberal amount of hot glue at the base of the wick pin. Push the wick pin up flush against the bottom of the mold and allow to dry. Your mold should look like the one shown in "Figure 1". This will keep your wick pin in place and won't allow the mold to leak.
Step 2 - Slanting the Mold
In order for you to achieve the distinct slopes of red, white and blue, you need to tilt your mold. You also need to be sure it won't move when you are pouring the candle, so I recommend finding a small box and using it as your mold holder. (See Figure 2)Step 3 - Pouring the Wax
This is the part that is a little tricky. Your wax can't be too hot or it will mix the different colors. If it is too cool, then it won't bond together and the parts of the candle will come apart in the sections you poured. This is what worked for me: I poured the red first and poured it at exactly 170 degrees. (See Figure 2)
I let that cool until it was firmed up, but not pulling away from the sides of the mold. The red wax was still warm, but very firm when I turned the mold 180 degrees and poured the blue. I poured the blue at exactly 167 degrees. I let that sit until the blue wax was very firm, but not pulled away from the mold. The mold and wax was still slightly warm. Your project should look similar to "Figure 3" at this point.
When the blue wax is very firm, but still warm, remove it from the box and set the mold down flat. (See Figure 4). You should have a distinct "V" shape where the red and blue are separated. Now, you will fill the rest of the mold with your white wax.
I poured my white wax at exactly 167 degrees, and you can see by looking at "Figure 5" that the red and blue colors did not mix with the white. If you want to use a water bath to be sure the colors don't mix, it certainly won't hurt anything. Just be sure to pour your white before the red and blue wax begins to pull away from the sides of the mold.
I found that pouring at these low temperatures, I didn't have a need for a second pour. However, I would recommend that you go ahead and poke a relief hold in the white wax once it sets up and do a second pour. This will eliminate any air bubbles that might be trapped. Just be sure that you don't poke your relief hole too far down, because if you go too far you will damage the red or blue wax or cause the red or blue to leak into the white.
After your candle has cooled, slide it from the mold and admire your work! :) As you can see in "Figure 6" I decided to wick this candle upside down, because I just liked the effect of having the white on top. Since the candle settled nicely, I was able to use the bottom of this one as the top. "Figure 7" shows the way your candle is supposed to look, with the attractive ridge around the top of it with a slight concave.
The same basic procedures were used to make the votive candles you see towards the top of this page also. The only difference is that the molds were not tilted at all, because I wanted the flat red, white and blue effect.
Please let me know if you try these candles. They are a hot item right now. I'd love to hear feedback as to how you are doing with them.
Please note: These candles were made using candle-making supplies from "The Cajun Candle Factory". Please do not e-mail me with questions or requests for help regarding waxes, dyes, molds or wicks other than what we offer. It's not that I don't want to help you, it's that the only products I work with are ours, and I have no idea how other companies' products will work. Therefore, I can't help with wax additives, color blocks, other wicks, etc, so please don't ask. The exact products I used to create these candles are listed above.
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