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10.22.2013

Teacup Candles

We had seen these lovely candles floating around Pinterest and in our favorite overpriced store and thought they were so beautiful that we would try and make them ourselves. Neither of us had ever made candles before so it initially seemed a little daunting, but once we were actually doing it we both couldn't believe how easy it was!  We ordered all of our supplies on Amazon (most craft stores also carry candle-making supplies) and made them one morning over a relaxing cup of tea (note: don't confuse actual tea with wax-filled teacup).  We're both so thrilled with how they turned out and can't wait to give our beautiful homemade candles as gifts!


You will need:


  • Teacups (collect vintage ones from thrift shops or order a set off of Amazon like we did)
  • Wax Flakes (we chose natural soy wax because it's clean burning & this 10lb. bag was a great deal)
  • Wicks (these are the ones we used)
  • A Candlemaking Pitcher (you could also use a regular stove pot but this is so much easier because you don't have to worry about cleaning the leftover wax out afterwards).
  • A Wooden Spoon
  • Some wooden skewers (to make "wick holders" that will hold the wicks upright)
  • Some rubber bands
  • A taper candle or some Wick Stickers (wick stickers recommended)
  • An essential oil or fragrance oil of your choice (optional)



1.  The first step is to secure your wicks to the bottom center of your teacups.  We used a taper candle and melted some wax to stick ours, but they did come unstuck a lot so next time we definitely plan on using wick stickers.

2.  Once you have your wicks secure, you need to create some "wick holders" that will keep the wicks upright & centered when you pour in the melted wax.  We made ours by cutting down wooden skewers, placing two together, and wrapping a rubber band around each end (see picture below).  Place these over your wicks & center them.



3.  Now it's wax melting time!  Pour your wax flakes into your candlemaking pitcher and place on the stove on super low heat.  The amount of flakes you need will vary depending on the size of your teacups & how many candles you want to make, so there's a bit of guesswork that happens here.  Just keep in mind that the wax flakes melt down A LOT and if you do have any left over you can just let it re-harden in the pitcher and save it for next time (or if you have any mason jars laying around you can make candles in those as well!  Just make sure they're heat-safe).

4.  Because your heat is on super low, the wax will take a little time to start melting.  Just keep stirring with that wooden spoon and it will soon transform into a clear, yellow-ish liquid.

5.  Once your wax is melted it's time to add your fragrance!  Every wax & fragrance is different so check your bag of wax flakes to see if it tells you how much scent is needed per lb. of wax.  If you are using a synthetic candle fragrance I believe the ratio is usually about 1oz. of scent per lb. of wax.  We used natural, essential oils for ours which usually requires using more oil, but we decided to wing it and just poured a bunch into our wax until we could smell it (about half a bottle).  In the end our candles weren't very strongly scented, which didn't bother us, but if you're looking for a stronger scent you may want to use some traditional synthetic candle fragrances or add more essential oil than we did.

6.  Now that you've added your fragrance, it's time to let your wax cool a little bit.  (We didn't do this with ours and apparently that's why some of them ended up with little cracks & holes in the wax).  Let it cool until it reaches the consistency of a Slurpee.  Make sure your teacups are on a steady surface where they can remain, undisturbed, for the next 24 hours while they set.  Once the wax is ready, carefully pour it into your teacups, center the wicks if you need to, and you're done!

Your candles will probably look like they're set before the 24 hours are up, but for best results wait that long before using them.  Once they're set, trim the wicks to about 1/2 an inch and light your beautiful candles!







5 comments :

  1. i want to make these for my brides!! what did you spend in total and how many candles were u able to make?

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    1. Hey Jana! We bought a 10 lb. bag of wax on Amazon for just under $25 and half of the bag made about 12 teacup candles. So that's about 24 candles from a whole bag, depending on the size of your teacups, which works out to about $1 per teacup for the wax. The teacups we bought (also off Amazon) were about $9 each - but you might be able to find cheaper ones in thrift stores. Add in the wicks and the scent and our cost came to just over $10 per candle. Still a great price but if you go teacup thrifting you could definitely reduce your cost. Happy crafting! xo

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