When I was a little girl, my mother loved to can. It was almost insane when every summer; we would head out to various farms and orchards to purchase large quantities of vegetables and fruit. Then we would haul everything back to the house, peel, cut and prepare all the fruit for the canning jars and then preserve them. It took a long time to do it all but in the end, if I was truthful, I loved walking into the canning room where shelf upon shelf was filled with jars packed with various fruit. It was almost a work of art in itself and to make it even more spectacular, it was all edible.

Now that I am a grown up, I hate canning. I would love to see the jars lining shelves but I just don’t have the time to preserve anything and I often try to avoid doing so. However, I do love candles and Fruit Gel Candles take me back to those days when I had shelves of canned fruit.

Of course, I can’t eat any of the fruit since they are waxed embeds but I can enjoy the appearance of the jars and I can enjoy burning my own fruit gel candles. Even more, I can make my own fruit gel candles in less time than it took my mom and family to can even one type of fruit.

What you need:

• Gel Wax: This can be purchased at most craft stores and you can find them at many online craft stores as well.
• Zinc Core Wicks: Another item that can be found at any craft store in the candle aisle. Make sure you purchase Zinc Core since cotton wicks will absorb the gel, making it harder for it to burn.
• Essential Oils: Choose fragrances that are similar to the fruit effect you are creating. So if you are going with lemons, use a citrus fragrance. Make sure that the oil is compatible with gel wax.
• Fruit Embeds: You can find these just about anywhere; craft stores and online suppliers. They are a wax sculpture of a fruit that can be placed in a gel candle.
• Dye: Like the fragrance, it is important to find a dye that is compatible with gel wax. Also use colors that compliment your fruit. If the colors are too dark, you may lose the fruit in the jar.
• Glass jars: Remember to use a clear jar that has thick glass so you can see the fruit and it can also withstand the heat from the wax.
• Pencil: This is for keeping the wick from slipping into the hot wax.
• Double Boiler: This can be a double boiler that you purchase for the special reason of candle making or it can be a pot filled with about 2 or 3 inches of water with a coffee can placed in the center of it.
• Rubbing Alcohol: You only need this for prep work.

Directions:

1. Before you begin making your fruit gel candles, it is important to wash all the glass jars thoroughly. Use rubbing alcohol to remove any grease or fingerprints on the glass.
2. A great rule of thumb is to fill a glass with water to determine the depth you would like the candle to be. You can pour the water into a measuring cup to determine how much wax you will need or you can simply eyeball it.
3. Make sure all the glasses are dry before you pour the wax into them.
4. Take the wick and cut it to the size that you would like for the candle. Make sure to leave 4 to 5 inches of extra length on the wick. Attach one end to a pencil and set to the side.
5. On the stove, melt the wax in a double boiler over a medium-low temperature. It is safer to use a thermometer to insure that you do not overheat the wax.
6. While your wax is cooking, warm the jars in the oven. You should set the heat to about 160°F.
7. Remove the jars and prepare the embeds. You do this by carefully dipping the embeds in the hot gel wax.
8. Arrange the embeds around the jar in the design that you would like.
9. Place the pencil across the jar and allow the wick to hang down the center of the jar.
10. If you are using an essential oil, add it to the hot wax and stir until it is well blended. Add the dye if you are using it but remember to not make the gel too dark or you will not be able to see the fruit.
11. Pour the melted gel wax into the jar. It is best if you pour it along the sides to avoid bubbles. The gel will fill in the spaces between the embeds.
12. Allow the gel to cool and solidify before you remove the wick from the pencil and trim it to about ¼ inch above the top of the gel. To remove excess wax, place the jar in a container of hot water and wipe clean with a moist cloth.

Finish off the jars with a decoration or simply place them on a shelf for decoration that can be used at a later time.

-Sirena Van Schaik

Tags: fruit gel candles, making fruit gel candles

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