By Sami Jo Jensen
Planning a wedding can be crazy stressful — not to mention expensive — but there's no reason it shouldn't also be fun. For the past five years, I've built my blog (Poor & Pretty) on the premise that you don't have to make or spend a lot of money to have a fun life, and the same goes for weddings.
I know, I know, there are a few things you're going to want to drop some dough on — dresses, tuxes, location, band or DJ, cake, etc. But why not DIY a few of the things you can?
Besides saving a little bit of money and making your wedding truly unique, making handmade favors and decor will also be a great project for you and your future husband or wife to do together. And you know what they say, "the couple that crafts together, stays together." I'm pretty sure that's the saying …
Here are step-by-step directions to making three kinds of wedding favors: succulents in painted pots, heart-shaped soaps and mason jar candles.
Mason Jar Candles
Making these candles is really very similar to making the soaps. The major difference is that you're pouring into a jar and dealing with a finicky wick that sits in the center of it. Another difference is that you'll be using a lot more fragrance oil in these, so I highly recommend opening up windows and even pointing a fan outside to draw the scents away from you. If you're cooped up, you're likely to get a headache pretty quickly! I use soy wax in my candles because it burns more cleanly and at a lower temperature, and is sustainable and carbon neutral.
Supplies
This makes one 8oz candle. Multiply as needed. I bought all of my candle supplies from CandleScience.
6 oz (1 2/3 cup) soy wax
2 1/2 tsp or 12mL fragrance oil
Dye chip (I used half a chip per candle)
Soy wick
Optional: wick stickums – they stick the wick to the bottom of your jar so it doesn't move
Plastic pipettes or measuring spoons, for measuring fragrance
8 oz wide mouth mason jar with lid
Pyrex measuring cup (mine holds 4 cups)
2 colored pencils (or pens, or popsicle sticks)
2 rubber bands
Stainless steel spoon for stirring
Mask
Latex (or similar) gloves
Safety goggles
Directions
Step 1: Measure out 1 2/3 cup or 6oz of soy wax in a Pyrex measuring cup and put it in the microwave for two minutes.
Step 2: While your wax is in the microwave, unscrew the lid from your mason jar. If you're using wick stickums, stick one to the bottom of your wick, then stick the wick to the bottom of your jar.
Step 3: Wrap together the ends of your colored pencils with the rubber bands, and carefully slide the wick in the gap between the pencils. This will keep the wick standing straight while you pour in the wax.
Step 4: Once the soy wax is done microwaving, stir it and return it to the microwave for another minute.
Step 5: If you are using a dye chip, you may want to cut it in half at this point, depending on how dark you want your color to be. For my yellow candle, I used slightly less than half of the dye chip.
Step 6: When the soy wax is done microwaving, it should be a clear liquid. If there are any unmelted chunks of wax left, stir to melt it. The measuring cup will be hot, so use an oven mitt to remove it carry it to your work station and add in your fragrance and dye chip. Stir until the dye chip is fully melted. You'll want to wear your mask, gloves, and safety goggles for this.
Step 7: Carefully pour the mixture into the mason jar, being careful not to move the wick.
Step 8: Let sit for 2-3 hours (until hardened) then add your label!
To decorate my candles, I placed glued tissue paper to the lid, screwed on the top, then glued the same label I made for my heart soaps onto the tissue paper.
Next up, learn how to make succulents in painted pots} and heart-shaped soaps.
