How to Make Ice Candles


Growing up, there were a number of rituals in our family surrounding the holidays. One of which involved me saving my milk cartons from my school lunch and bringing them home over the period of a week (or two) in preparation for making ice candles. It was always a little bit magical to dangle a wick into the (cleaned) milk cartons, then fill with ice before we poured melted wax over it. The ice would crackle and the wax would hiss. And I'd wait, rather impatiently, for the wax to cool and set up, occasionally poking it with my finger, then peeling off the still hot wax that had made a searing impression of my fingerprints.

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I loved the process and the time my mom and I spent together. And, I loved the fact that I made something so cool.

This, of course, was before candle making was something you could easily do at home with supplies from the craft store. We'd venture out to the grocery store where they still stocked paraffin for canning, and we'd use food coloring to dye the wax. My mom would melt the wax in an old coffee can set into a double boiler.

You're not limited to ice either. You can put any number of things into your candle forms and pour wax over them to make cool looking candles as gifts.

You can collect tips off pine branches and small pine cones:



Dried fruit and cinnamon sticks:


Coffee beans:


Small twigs:


You can also use crayons or bits of other candles.

How to Make Ice Candles

Materials:
  • Waxed paper cartons or cups (milk cartons or waxed dixie cups work), recycled plastic food containers, etc.
  • Wicking (can be found at most craft stores)
  • Wax (you can use paraffin, old candles, crayons, etc.)
  • A pencil or chopstick (to hold the top of the wick)
  • Food coloring (if using paraffin or uncolored wax)
  • Essential oils to scent the candle (optional)
  • Ice, slightly crushed
  • Something in which to melt the wax (an old coffee can or pot that you no longer use)

Instructions:
  1.  Put your wax into your coffee can or pot, set it in a somewhat larger pan with water to create a double boiler. This will heat the wax more safely and evenly.
  2. Clean your waxed paper cartons (if they once held food), with warm soapy water and rinse.
  3. Open the top of your carton completely
  4. When the wax has melted, pour a small amount into the bottom of your container and drop the end of your wick into it. Let the wax cool and harden around the wick to secure it at the bottom.
  5. Cut your wick with enough room to tie the top around your pencil. The pencil will rest over the top opening of your container and hold the wick in position while you pour the ice and then the wax into your container.
  6. If coloring or scenting your wax, mix it in now.
  7. Add the slightly crushed ice to your container. The chunkier the ice, the bigger the caverns in the wax.
  8. Carefully pour your wax in over the ice and fill your container.
  9. Set aside and allow the wax to completely cool.
  10. Remove the waxed paper carton, by tearing it from around your candle
  11. Let the candle sit in the sink or on a dish towel to absorb the melted ice cubes.
  12. Trim the wick to 1/2 inch.

If You Want to Make Candles with Other Inclusions:


For some candles with inclusions, you can follow much the same process as the ice candles. Instead of ice, however, you simple pour in (for example) coffee beans, or crayon chunks. 



For more decorative candles, that show inclusions around their circumference, you'll need to pour a base of wax in first, then insert a smaller cup or carton inside your larger one. This creates a wall in which you can insert things like cinnamon sticks or pine boughs, then pour your wax into that ring. Once that wax is cooled and set, you can remove the interior cup or carton, place your wicking in and pour in the rest of your wax.