Lots of people tell me they’d love to make their own candles but don’t know where to start or don’t have the money to buy supplies. I’ve been crafting magickal candles for over a decade and, for me, it’s become a form of art, meditation, spell craft and science all rolled into one. Crafting magickal candles can be complex but it doesn’t have to be if you just want to keep it simple and on a budget. Here are my best tips for crafting your own simple, low-cost magickal candles.

Spell Candle Crafting Tools

You don’t need a ton of fancy equipment to become sufficient in making your own spell candles. To melt wax, you can use an old or inexpensive crock pot. Over the years I’ve found the Presto 06003 Options Electric Multi-Cooker/Steamer to be my favorite tool for melting wax. I own several and they are only around $25-$30. However, any crock pot will work. If you don’t have a crock pot, you can also use a double boiler or use a pot and a heat safe bowl to create one. It works just the same, but it may take longer to fully melt the wax. 

I use a lot of regular kitchen utensils that I already have on hand when I craft my spell candles. You can even reuse your kitchen items in the kitchen after thoroughly cleaning them from your candle crafting. All you’ll need to do is place them in the oven to ensure all the wax has melted and then give them a good washing. Below I’ve written a list of items and what I use them for in candle making.      

• ladle – to scoop melted wax into my pouring pot (i.e., glass measuring cup)
• candy thermometer – to check the temperature of the wax as it melts
• glass measuring cup – use as a pouring pot
• plastic shot glasses – to make essential oil blends
• wooden skewers – to stir ingredients together in the pouring pot and to hold the wick in place (I literally save chopsticks from Chinese takeout to use for stirring the wax)
• butcher paper – to cover my crafting space – better known as my kitchen counter
• baking tray lined with aluminum foil – to use in the oven for heating glass candle containers, keeping melted wax melted, and to clean my tools
• oven mitts – to keep you from serious burns (in candle crafting you will get minor burns consistently…or maybe that’s just me?)
• paper towels – you will need to invest in paper towels for cleaning up wax. I’ve tried using other materials and there just isn’t anything as good as paper towels that I have found so far.

Spell Candle Crafting Molds and Containers

For paraffin pillar candles, you can upcycle plastic bottles, milk containers, egg cartons, and even toilet paper and paper towel rolls to create molds for your candles. There are literally hundreds of things you can use for a mold. All you need is a little creativity and heat resistance.

Toilet Paper & Paper Towel Rolls

Toilet paper and trimmed down paper towel rolls work really well for taller, ritual style pillars. Just hot glue the paper tube to a thick piece of cardboard on the bottom and on the outside (if you don’t do the outside, it may leak from the bottom). Once you have it adhered to the cardboard, it’s now ready for use! Make sure your wax is melted but that you let it cool for at least 15 minutes prior to pouring into the tube as it also helps prevent leakage.

Let the candle cure for 24 hours before peeling away the cardboard tube. Note that if you use a paper mold, your candle will have a frosted look.  Another awesome idea for molds is to find silicone baking molds to use for smaller or shaped candles. You can find these any place that sells kitchen ware or you may have some already. And Once these candles cure, all you have to do is pop them out of the silicone. It’s that easy!

Recycling Containers for Container Spell Candles

If you’re looking to make container spell candles, it’s no harder than looking around your house. Reuse old glass candle holders, tins, jars, cans, etc. The only thing to be aware of is the heat resistance of the container. I haven’t used a glass container yet that hasn’t held up to the heat of the wax but it’s always better to be safe than sorry. No one wants an exploding glass liquid candle. I do not recommend using plastic unless it’s extremely thick.

Thrift stores and secondhand shops are a great place to find containers for spell candles. I’ve found everything from mason jars to antique teacups to use as candle containers. You might even decide to match colored glass up with your intentions for your spells. For instance, “Vampire” red vintage glass made by Avon would be a great container for love and lust spells!

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Wax for Spell Candles

You can buy all kinds of wax from paraffin to soy to blends and beyond. However, you can also recycle wax from old candles to create a new spell candle. Save your pillar candle remnants until you have enough to melt together to create a candle. The same goes for left over container wax. This is easy to reuse because you can heat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit/95 degrees Celsius and place your containers on a baking sheet lined with foil until the wax melts.

Once it’s melted you can either pour the containers into one another or pour the wax into your wax melter to blend together. You can also melt birthday candles and crayons together to create new candles. If the wax is white, you can add color to it if you like. If you have multicolored wax, you can be creative and layer it or swirl it all together. One word of advice: melt like waxes together so that you have a consistent pouring temperature.

Wick for Spell Candles

This is probably the one thing I will say that you have to buy. Making your own wicking is just too finicky when trying to get the right wax and wick combination. Here is a link to a great wick selection guide. And here is the big secret to making spell candles – size does matter. The size and type of wick is important in how your candle will burn. 65% of making an awesome candle is choosing the right wick and wax combination so take your time and do test runs. Most companies that sell wicking will send you a sample pack of wicks to test out for very little cost. This is one area that is worth investing in if you want to craft your own candles.

I also recommend buying wicks that are already tabbed. This means they will have the circular metal piece already attached to the bottom. Once you’ve poured your magickal candle and you’re ready to add the wick, you can use a wooden skewer, pencil, or long nail to wrap your wick around and place across the container or mold. This will hold your wick in place while your candle cures.

Ingredients with Intention

Crafting a candle for a magickal purpose is no different than creating a spell. You are literally working all of your intentions into the spell candle as you make it through the herbs, colors, and oils you select, the incantations you recite or the songs you sing, and the way in which you add and mix the ingredients. For example, when you are crafting a spell candle to bring something in, stir the melted wax clockwise. When you want to release or banish something, stir the melted wax counter/anti clockwise.

Also, the time of day and the hours you work could also be important to your candle crafting intention. Let’s say I’m making a working candle for general magick. I probably would ensure that I made the candle on a Monday or Wednesday under a full moon if possible. The smaller the details you pay attention to and incorporate in aligning yourself with your intention, the more powerful the candle you craft will be.

Color

Adding color to a candle is a magick all on its own and you don’t even have to invest in candle dyes to do it. You can color candles with food coloring and eyeshadow pigments. You won’t have a wide variety of color using food coloring but it’s something most people have on hand or can easily acquire at low cost. If you do add food coloring, be sure it’s the liquid concentrate and not the tube of gel. Liquid allows you to see how dark or light your wax is as you add each drop. With gel you just have to hope you’ve put in the right amount. You will want to stir this around with a wooden skewer (pencils also work just as well) until you have the color just where you’d like it to be. Wax generally appears darker than it dries.

Hot tip! Test out the color in a tealight sized container before pouring into anything larger to ensure you have created the shade, you’re after. Generally, candles often turn out too light rather than too dark.

Herbs

Adding herbs isn’t essential to creating a spell candle but, when each herb is chosen for it’s magickal properties, it lends that much more power to your intention. For example, if I were crafting a candle to bring calm into a space, I may decide to use chamomile and lavender. You will want to test your herbs in your tealight sampler before committing to your larger working. Herbs have different densities, and you will find that while one herb may sink to the bottom, another will clump to the top. You want to be mindful that you add just enough but not so much that you create a fire hazard. Safety first!

Oils

If you’re like me, you don’t want to use perfumes in your candles. Essential oils are what I use for fragrance, but they can be a little tricky. You have to experiment with your blends to ensure that they a. blend well together and b. smell when the candle burns. In order to get the right scent ‘throw,’ you will need to mix your essential oils with a carrier oil. How much carrier oil will depend on the size of the candle. A general rule of thumb is a glass vigil candle requires an ounce and a half to two ounces of oil in order to throw scent when burning. I use plastic shot glasses (the solo throw-away kind) but you can use wax covered paper cups. Don’t use a reusable container because oil is hard to wash off. I pour my essential oils drop by drop into the cup.

Then I mix them with the opposite end of my wooden dowl and ensure the scents blend together to match my intention. Once I’m satisfied with the scent, I add between an ounce and a half and two ounces of fractionated coconut oil and mix. After many years of trial and error, I have found fractionated coconut oil to work best in blending into candle wax. However, you can use other carrier oils to do the same job. I do not recommend olive or avocado oil for this as they are both thick and have a scent to them.

Wrapping it up

There is much more you can do when crafting magickal candles, but these are what I would consider the basics to get started. It really is a diverse craft, and you can be as creative as you allow your imagination to roam. One book that really helped get my creative juices flowing when I first started out was Magical Candle Crafting by Ember Grant. I highly recommend this read if you’re at all interested in crafting magickal candles. If you’d love to know more tips, tricks, and techniques leave a comment below and I may make a part two to this post. Thank you so much for joining me and happy candle crafting!

Meet Allorah Rayne

Allorah Rayne is a practitioner of amnestic and wayfaring witchcraft and has been part of the online spiritual community since 2012. Her introduction to tarot was the age of nine and she pursued more intensive learning at fifteen. Allorah is the founder of The Wayfaring Witch © where she offers soul origin profiles, tarot and oracle card readings, digital downloads, workshops, and mentorships in the ways of the witch. She is also the co-founder of The Otherworldly Oracle Official Podcast, Spread This, Witches! and Witches in the Woods. You can contact Allorah at the following social media sites Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, on The Wayfaring Witch © website via live chat, or by e-mail at allorahrayne@gmail.com