Candle Making with Aunty Moon

I posted the following short video to YouTube yesterday. I’ve put it here in case you’re more interested in the Condensed Version of what I’m about to relay. Here you go.

Still with me?

It’s been a while since I made candles but I really wanted to try it again. So I did. As is in the video, all the materials cost me less than $70.00–more like $50.00 actually–I don’t think that’s too much to spend on something that might bring you a bit of joy and, possibly, a new skill.

None of this is hard. None of this is ‘sciency’ at all.

It is, however, a lot of fun.

I bought my supplies on Amazon a few weeks ahead of time. They are…..

That’s 5 lbs of soy wax which came with wicks and setters. A 4 pack of small molds and a “double boiler”. That thing on the end. Every single one of them was advertised as a “double boiler” on Amazon. I don’t know about where you come from but for me just the word “double” implies there are 2 pots. In this case, one that fits inside the other. That, and the others, are just pouring pots. If you get one of these you will need a quick fix.

Now it’s a makeshift Double Boiler.

I fully intended to use the scale but the molds were in mm and me, being the stupid American I am, couldn’t even figure out how to get Google to translate to mm to ml and then maybe to oz so I could get an accurate measurement. I ended up using a Pyrex 1 cup dry measurer and over filling it as much as possible. In the end, that amount actually did fill all four molds but not to the top. Yes, I know. I need to get better at math and ‘sciency’ stuff. I really really do! The 4 pack of molds I bought are nice but they’re rather small for any practical use.

Anyway, I set the heat to medium high and went about the task of setting up the wicks in my molds.

Wick setting is no fun. It can be downright frustrating even with the little tool you see in the top right corner of the picture directly above. If you have a secret, other than a glue gun which is next on my list of Things To Try, please let me know. I ended up using the tip of the knife to push it all down and put in place but….well…more on that later.

While the wicks were getting all sticky and the wax was melting.

I very lightly misted each mold with the wonderful stuff in the yellow can. Very light.

All done now.

I poured the newly melted unscented wax into the molds and fiddled with the wicks until they were nearly set. What a joy. But, as they say, Necessity is the Mother of Invention, so I got creative with my utensils and cutlery.

As you can see, after the first pour, I was really into it. Everything was out and ready to go. Those holders you see, I bought them earlier this year for just this purpose at a yard sale, so I had them hanging around. Yeah, I had to go looking for them but I succeeded.

I made my very first scented candles. Purposefully scented anyway. Long Ago and Far Away, I saved all the bits and blobs of wax from past spent candles and melted them all down to make new ones. Not the most effective method if they’re different scents but pretty cool to see whatever color they end up creating when melted together.

Being bad at math and having absolutely no idea at all how much those glasses hold, I just kept to my heaping cup of max and made each candle one at a time using different scents. I didn’t pay for those expressly for this, I have oodles of essential oils hanging around. These were the ones I picked.

I hemmed and hawed over the 4th until the very end.

While the molds were setting, I used the dropper in the Sandalwood bottle and put 1 1/2 droppers into that heaping cup of soy wax chips, melted them down one by one until each was about 2/3 to 3/4 full. I know, I could have upped the amount of wax but I just wanted to keep going with what I had so everything was fairly even. Next time I’ll do better.

I think the molds came out nice even though they’re small. They popped right out like a Push-Pop so I was very happy with that. I will get a few larger ones in the near future.

The scented candles also came out well. I haven’t lit them yet but I will tonight since it’s Halloween and all. They don’t seem to have overpowering scents which is nice but they’re not too subtle either.

I must say that, after making these candles along with the tinctures and oils the other day, getting back to my Witchy Roots feels pretty damn good! Especially after working 3 years in a church. Don’t get me wrong, they’re nice people, I like them, but it’s really time for me to get out of there.

I’m kinda hoping this will be my path to that. In fact, I’m so hoping for it, that when I went to Family Dollar this morning because–gasp!–we were out of coffee!!! I stopped to look at the glasses and picked up 6 that will making nice candles. They were $1.25 each. I have a feeling I will be cruising Dollar Stores, Discount Stores, Yard Sales, and Amazon–where I found some gorgeous glass jars just perfect for the Witch in Everyone and I can’t wait to order them. I may make those six candles today and see how it goes with some other oils that I bought but never really liked as a body fragrance. They’ll be nice in a candle though, there’s Bamboo, and Water Lily, Tea Tree and three or four others up there in one of my little Witch Kits. Those should be good.

Bath salts are still on the horizon but getting closer every day.

I think I have the makings of a nice Side Gig here. The writer in me whose been forced to market so hard and so long is immediately jumping on that bandwagon. So far we have noted that, as far as marketing goes, we will be:

100% organic
Minimal Packaging
Handcrafted
Small Batches
Local Small Business
and we’re hemming and hawing over how to get something like; Made by a Real American Witch…in there.

We thought about a name and His Majesty instantly insisted on harkening way way, way the hell back, to our roots when we ran a site called Onya’s Odyssey. It was 100% pagan, I still have all the spells. Yes, for you Of War fans…you finally found the Mary Sue character!

Onya’s Odyssey doesn’t really fit. We liked Onya’s Oddities…a lot. That one is still on the front burner. He’s settled on

Who in 2023 still knows what an Apothecary is/was…I have no clue.

We’re still playing around with it. We like the crystal ball though we originally went On the Hunt for one we’d used in that Long Ago and Far Away Time…we were unsuccessful. However we did pick up these images for use on a logo.

If you see anything that catches your eye let me know because….the comments are finally working!!! I have no idea how that happened but I’m going to see if I can get it to work on other posts.

No, I won’t be selling those Special Tinctures, that would be illegal. But, you know, eventually, if anyone out there with a kind and generous heart knowing how much Eversource is gouging their customers wants to donate to my electric bill I’m sure I can come up with a Token of My Appreciation for Your Donation.

Anyway, it’s Halloween and I’m off to do Witchy Things! But before I go I simply must tell you about this wacked out dream I had last night. Mostly because I hardly ever remember my dreams anymore and I didn’t remember this one at all until I put on “A Haunting in Venice” and there was a cockatu.

It hit me full in the fast the instant I saw that bird.

Just…smack! Remember me?

All at once there was, and I shit you not, Robert Blake. Yes, Robert Blake as he was in his younger days, you know when he was alive and all.

I was in a store just poking around in my dream and I saw him. I recognized him instantly. I admit I followed him around a little bit to be sure. As he started making his way towards the check out I came up from behind him, grasped his bare arm, turned him around and said: “How about that bird, huh?”

He stared at me. Then he laughed. He said, “The bird was a pain the ass. I hated it.” He laughed again. He said, “Did you ever me in ______?”

For the life of me I can’t remember what he said there. But I said, “No, I’ll check it out. But I really loved in you in Baretta.” (I swear at this point I could hear the theme song, which I also love, playing on the store speakers. For those of you who don’t know the words or the tune….check it out……oh look, there’s the bird!)

He looked at me narrowly and said: “You must have been a baby when that show was on.”

I said I’d been very young but I still loved it and I still remembered him from “Little Rascals” which I also loved.

We got to the check out, he paid for his things, and started walking toward the exit which was a very large opening onto a mall. A mall! He turned back and said, “You really should check out _____ I think you’ll love it.”

Then he was gone.

I didn’t remember a single thing about it until….”A Haunting in Venice”.

With that in mind…..once more….Happy Halloween and May the Ancestors Bless You Tonight and Every Night.