Scent can enhance the feelings of coziness and nostalgia that people usually experience during Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, the paraffin wax candles and aerosols we use also introduce harmful chemicals into indoor air. But never fear, because the recipe below will help you make scented fall candles at home using safe, natural ingredients.
First, you’ll need to get:
- Canning jars
- Enough soy wax to fill these jars
- Wicks and holder
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground pumpkin spice
- Vanilla bean
- Heat-safe bowl
- Pot
- Scissors
- Chopsticks
- Knife and cutting board
Next, follow these steps:
- Place a pot filled with water on your stove and place the heat-safe bowl on the pot. Turn the heat to medium-low and allow the water to simmer.
- Add the wax to the bowl and let it melt completely. Keep an eye on this as it happens to prevent the soy wax from catching fire.
- Get a vanilla bean and split it lengthwise. Scrape its inside with a knife’s dull edge and remove the seeds. Put the seeds and the bean’s core aside.
- Once the wax melts, get the bowl containing the wax off the heat and dip a wick holder’s end into the wax. Adhere it to the bottom of the canning jars.
- Keep the wick upright and centered by holding it between two chopsticks resting on top of the jar. Alternatively, you could wrap the wick a few times around one chopstick and then leave the chopstick resting on the mouth of the canning jar.
- Add the vanilla bean and seeds, ground pumpkin spice, and cinnamon to the wax. Stir the mixture to incorporate the spices into the wax and give it an amazing smell.
- Take out the vanilla bean and then pour the wax into every jar, taking care not to disrupt the wick.
- Allow the wax to cool and harden for 10 to 15 minutes.
Finish off by trimming the wicks, and you’ll have made fragrant fall candles that won’t harm your indoor air quality (IAQ). To learn more ways to improve IAQ, contact us at Mowery Heating, Cooling and Plumbing. We offer a variety of heating, cooling, and IAQ products to homeowners in the Indianapolis area.
