Candle Making Tutorial
Hurricane Candles w/ Embedded Objects
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Hurricane Shells, also called luminaria, are a wonderful way to add ambiance. They can be made with candles built in, or in the traditional hollow manner. Plain hurricane shells, such as the one we show you how to make in this tutorial, keep wind from blowing out candles, and are therefore ideal for outdoor décor. The process for making a basic hurricane candle shell is simple.

 

 

What You Will Need - Supplies

·        High Melt Point Molding Candle Wax

·        Micro Wax 195 pearls

·        9.5 x 4 x 4 Hurricane Mold

·        Objects to Embed (flowers, leave, shells, etc)          

·        3X10 Hurricane Mold Insert

·        Bucket or Large Pot for Water Bath

·        Silicone Spray Mold Release (optional)

·        Steamer Pot or old Sauce Pan to create a double boiler

·        Standard Size Melting Pot

·        Wood Stir Sticks, chopsticks, or something else to stir the wax

·        Thermometer

·        Craft Knife

·        Mold Sealer (optional)

·        Mold Weights (optional

 

Also a good idea to have around:

·        Paper towels

·        Wax Remover

·        Aluminum Foil

·        Newspaper, butcher paper, or scrap paper to cover work surfaces

·        Fire Extinguisher (just in case)

 

How to Set Up Your Work Area

1. Put down newspaper or butcher paper on tables and countertops to catch spills and for easy cleanup.
2. Have paper towels and Windex on hand for cleaning stovetops.
3. Wrap stove burner bowls in tin foil to catch drips of wax, and for easy cleanup afterwards.

 

Prep Your Mold

Our 9.5" X 4" Square Metal Hurricane Molds do not typically have wick holes in the bottom. If you are using a mold that has a wick hole in the bottom, close it with a wad of mold sealer.

 

Inspect your mold to ensure that there is no residual wax on the inside surfaces or seams of your mold. If there is, remove it.

 

 

Spray the inside of your mold with Silicone Spray Mold Release. To do this, either follow the directions on the can, or hold the nozzle 8 to 10 inches from your mold and release the spray in short bursts. I little goes a long way with Silicone Spray Mold Release.

 

Melting your High Melt Point Molding Candle Wax

Fill the bottom part of your double boiler (the steamer pot or the deep sauce pan) with about two inches of cool water, and place on the burner set to high temperature.

 

A simple double boiler using an old sauce pan and a meting pot with a spout.

  

Place pieces of 150 degree Molding Candle Wax to be melted into the standard sized melting pot, set the melting pot in the water, and attend to it as the wax liquefies. (When the water begins to boil, turn the heat down to medium low or low.) The standard sized melting pot holds a little over 4 lbs of wax.

 

 

If you have a large block of wax and need instructions on how to safely break it into smaller pieces, please visit our section on How To Break Up Wax Blocks. When the wax is entirely liquid (i.e., when there are no solid chunks any longer in the pot) you have successfully melted the wax. Continue heating the wax until it reaches 200 degrees F. 

 

Adding Micro Wax 195

Since the finished hurricane candle shell will be subjected to heat from a candle in its interior, it is important that the hurricane candle wax be of a higher melting point than typical tea light or votive candle wax.

 

Micro Wax 195 will raise the melting point of the finished hurricane candle wax. It also acts to prevent mottling. Standard usage is between 1 and 2 teaspoons per pound of wax. For this tutorial I have used 4 lbs of wax, so I need to add 4 teaspoons of Micro Wax 195. Keep track of the amount of wax you use when making your hurricane candle shell, and add the appropriate amount of Micro Wax 195, using a minimum of 1 teaspoon of Micro Wax 195 per pound of melted wax.

 

 

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Stir the Micro Wax 195 well into the melted wax, to ensure even distribution.

 

 

When the Micro Wax 195 has melted entirely, bring the temperature up to 200 degrees F.

 

Pouring the Hurricane Candle Wax

When the wax is 200 degrees F, pour it into your hurricane candle mold. Let it sit undisturbed to cool.

 

 

 

 

 

Add the Hurricane Mold Insert

The purpose of the insert is to keep your embedded objects contained at the sides of the hurricane mold where the shell will develop. Without the insert, objects will tend to float into the center of the hurricane mold, where they will not integrate into the wax shell of the finished hurricane candle shell.

 

Place the hurricane mold insert into the center of the hurricane mold. Try to get it centered. There should be about ½ inch between the hurricane mold insert and the edge of the hurricane mold. This is the space in which you will place your objects to be embedded.

 

 

Place Your Embedded Objects

 

Once you have centered the hurricane mold insert, lower your objects into the gap between the insert and the mold.

  

  

 

Popular embeds include shells, leaves, flowers, pine cones, candy canes, and cinnamon sticks. The choices for embedded objects in a hurricane mold are limitless. Your only limitations for embeds are objects which will fit in the gap between the mold and the insert, and objects that will not melt in hot wax.

 

Cool in a Water Bath

The water bath will cool the wax on the sides of your hurricane mold more quickly than letting the hurricane candle shell cool at room temperature.

 

 

You can make a simple water bath from a large pot or a bucket. The pot or bucket must be large enough for the hurricane mold to fit inside.

 

Fill your pot or bucket ½ to 2/3 full of cool water. Use oven mitts to protect your hands from the heat of the hurricane mold as you carefully pick it up and lower it into the water bath.

 

 

Carefully release the hurricane mold. If it floats at all, hold it down and place weights on the base to hold it down. If the hurricane mold is floating in the water bath, it will tip and cause your finished hurricane candle shell to be uneven.

 

Remove Hurricane Mold Insert

After you place your hurricane mold into the water bath, you will see the wax on the inner walls of the hurricane candle mold cloud up as the wax begins to solidify. The wax must solidify around your embedded objects. Allow the wax to cool to about ¼ inch thickness. This should be enough to ensure that they will stay fast when you remove the hurricane insert and pour out excess wax.

 

 

When the edges of the wax have cooled and solidified to about ¼ inch thick (a little thicker for larger objects) then you may remove the hurricane candle insert.

 

To remove the insert, take it in both hands and apply smooth, even force as you pull it up. The wax at the bottom of the hurricane mold will have solidified to ¼ inch just as the sides have done. The wax will hold to the hurricane insert, which is why you must apply smooth, even force to remove it. If you yank it out of the wax in a jerky motion, it can cause the wax to be disturbed and splash up around the edged at the top of your hurricane candle, creating an uneven top finish, and causing “onion skinning” on your hurricane candle.

 

When you have released the insert from the cooled wax at the bottom of the hurricane mold, lift it about ½ inch off the bottom of the mold. Hold it in this position as the edges cool and solidify further, to ensure that all of your embedded objects are sufficiently encased in the wax of the sides.

 

When you are satisfied that your embedded objects are stable, gently lift the hurricane insert completely out of the hurricane mold and set it aside.

 

Cooling Hurricane Candle

Let the hurricane candle wax cool until it builds up a shell which will hold your embedded object fast in the shell. For thin objects such as fern leaves, ¼ is usually sufficient. For larger objects such as shells, let the wax continue to build up more thickness. You want your objects firmly embedded and coated in wax before you pour out the excess liquid wax in the center.

 

    

 

When a suitably thick shell has built up around your embedded objects, you can pour out the excess wax.

 

To do this, first remove the hurricane candle mold from the water bath. (Remove the mold weights if you are using any.) Lift the hurricane mold out straight up out of the water bath and set it on your flat even work surface. Keep it the mold level, and do not tip it. Tipping the hurricane mold will cause the wax to lap up over the sides of the hurricane shell, causing the finish to be uneven or causing it to “onion skin”.

 

 

 

 

If a skin has developed on the surface of the wax, cut it out at the edges with your craft knife and remove it before pouring the excess liquid wax back into the melting pot.  

 

Cut Away Top of Hurricane Candle Shell

Here is your hurricane shell with embedded objects. If the top of the hurricane shell is rough, perhaps where you removed the skin from the top of the candle, you can use your craft knife to trim away the rough edges at the top of your hurricane candle. The inside top edges of your hurricane candle shell should be neat and flush with the walls of the shell.

 

 

Let your hurricane candle shell cool for another couple of hours or so at room temperature, until the wax has hardened and cooled completely.

 

Remove from Mold

Remove the hurricane candle shell from the mold carefully, using your fingers, as you would with a basic hurricane mold. Take care not to mar the surface finish of your hurricane candle shell. If the shell does not come out of the mold easily, place the mold in the freezer for 10 minutes, then try again.

 

 

Finished Hurricane Candle Shell

Trim any rough edges with your craft knife. Place a tea light or a votive in a votive holder inside the shell and set it anywhere! The high melting temperature of the hurricane candle wax keeps it from melting from the heat of tea lights and votives.  

 

 

 

For other Hurricane Candle Shell projects, see our tutorials on Basic Hurricane Candle Shells, Hurricane Candle Container Candles, and Hurricane Candle Paper Lantern Shells.