The Guide on Making a Decorative Applique Candle

Decorating homemade candles is great fun and actually easier than most people think. The best thing about decorative candle making is that it can be completed within a few minutes and requires very little skills to complete. I have one such project for you today: appliqué candles!

Appliqué candles are large, pillar candles that have been installed with appliqués or wax decorations.

Make appliqué candles

What you will need:

• Large pillar candle (you can, of course, make your own pillar candle too)
• Cut-and-carve sheet wax (this will serve as the adhesive for the appliqués). If you do not want to buy cut-and-carve sheet wax, you can use a bit of melted paraffin wax instead. Paraffin wax is perfect for square-shaped candles.
• Flat surface to cut the wax appliqués
• Cookie cutters (the shapes should ideally be appropriate for the themes that you have in mind; for example, if you are making Christmas candles, the cookie cutters could be of Santa Claus or peppermint canes)

The steps on making appliqué decorative candles:

1. Place your wax in a melting can, and place the melting can in a pot that has been filled with water. Let the wax melt.
2. Add the dye and the fragrance, if you are going for colored and scented candles. When all the ingredients have been mixed well, don a pair of mitts and pour the wax on a flat surface.
3. It is highly recommended that you place a wax sheet or cookie sheet on the flat surface before pouring the wax. Use several sheets if the surface is wooden. The sheets will absorb the wax later on in the process. When hardened, you can easily remove the hardened shapes. If you have a spare baking pan, you can use that too.
4. After pouring the wax, allow the wax to harden slightly, but not too much that you will have difficulty in cutting shapes out of it using the cookie cutters.
5. Cut shaped wax pieces in such a way that you maximize the available wax.
6. After cutting shapes through the wax, let the entire batch harden completely.
7. When the wax is ready, simply apply pressure on the bottom part of the baking pan you are using. The pressure should be able to remove the shapes.
8. Using a heat gun or a similar apparatus, apply some heat to the appliqué. When the appliqué becomes pliable, add a bit of paraffin wax to the underside of the appliqué and heat the appliqué once again. When the paraffin wax becomes liquid, set the appliqué to the pillar candle.
9. Allow the appliqué to dry before wrapping the pillar candle.