The beauty of clear gel is that it already looks like water even before you start decorating it. Did you know that you can basically put anything in a gel candle? Try sweets, dried herbs and spice, toys, flowers or the all-time favourite, shells to create an ocean scene. These candles are easy to make and offer a flexibility in design that regular beeswax and paraffin wax don’t. Let’s help you make these glossy candles at home!

You’ll need:

• Gel wax
• Zinc wicks
• Coconut oil
• Saucepan
• Metal spoon
• Glass jar
• 2 ml gel candle scent that is gel-safe
• Things for decoration purpose

Instructions:

1. Using a glass jar, decorate the bottom of your candle.
2. Follow the instructions on the gel candle packet and add coconut oil, dye and scent to the gel mixture.
3. Position the zinc wick in the middle of the jar.
4. Fill the jar carefully with the mixture so that the decorations don’t move around too much.
5. Let it sit for 4-5 hours until set.

Did we mention these make great gifts? Personalise the candle to showcase your friend’s personality! We think the dried orange and chili peel pot pourri looks great – can you imagine how good it’s going to smell? Want something that’s a little bit simpler? Try recreating an under-the-sea scene using sand and tiny seashells.

As a general rule of thumb, choose decorative items that are non-flammable such as seashells, glass figures or marbles, sea glass, stones, ceramic figures and wax embeds are fine in gel candles. Silk flowers and foliage also make great choices for gel embeds. If you are tempted to use a flammable item in the gel candle, use a short wick which will never burn near these items.

Is your candle full of little bubbles? Bubbles are caused by the heating temperature of the gel, reactions between the gel and items in your candle, and lastly the way you pour the gel. Here’s a few tips to prevent bubbles:

• Preheat the container for at least 10 minutes before pouring the gel in so that the bubbles can rise to the surface and break.
• Pre-treat the items you want to decorate your candle with. Place the items in a pan with a small amount of gel, then using a tweezer carefully remove the items, holding them over the pan until the gel solidifies.
• Try pouring the gel into the container at an angle or down the sides to minimize the bubbles.

Want to give this one a try? Tell us how you will decorate your gel candle in the comment section below!