Using Fruits and Vegetables for Making Candle Molds

You can make a candle in the shape of a fruit or vegetable. The first step in doing this is making the candle mold.

Ingredients

• Vegetable or fruit whose shape you want to turn into a candle. Something that would be easy to stand upright would work best. For example, an apple, pear, or gourd would work well. A zucchini, not so much.
• Plastic container that is large enough to hold the vegetable with at least an inch on each side
• A piece of wood, about one-inch wide and one-inch thick, and long enough to fit across the top of the container
• A screw, several inches long.
• Mold-making polymer epoxy. Often comes as two liquids that you mix together.
• Wax
• Wax dye
• Wax scent
• Wick that has been primed
• Dowell or stick that is long enough to fit over the top of the container
• Tape

Instructions

Start by making a base to hold the vegetable or fruit. Drill a small hole in the wood to get the screw started. Then insert the screw into the center of wood, and twist the wood onto the screw until it is as far towards the head of the screw as possible.

Now, take the base of the vegetable (which will become the base of the candle) and twist it onto the screw until there is about an inch and a half of space between the produce and the wood. You don’t want to simply impale the vegetable, because you want the vegetable to be held steadily and solidly by the base. You don’t want it to spin freely or fall off the screw.

Wipe off any juices that may have come out of the vegetable as the result of the screw insertion. You want the vegetable’s surface to be clean and dry.

Balance the wood on the top of the container so that the vegetable is inside the container. It should not touch the bottom or the walls.

Use tape to secure the wood base to the container. You don’t want the vegetable to be able to wobble around or float upward once the epoxy is poured.

Mix up the epoxy. Carefully pour it into the container, all around the vegetable. Maintain laminar flow so that you don’t get any bubbles. Fill it up, You may want to leave about a 2 inch area of vegetable uncovered. You do this for two reasons. First, this will be the opening into which you will pour the wax. Second, this will make up the base of the candle, and you need it to be large enough to support the candle.

Let the epoxy cure for the recommended time.

Remove the epoxy and vegetable from the plastic container. Cut down one side of the epoxy, and around the bottom just to the center. This will enable you to remove the vegetable.

Insert the wick at the base of the mold, in the center. Let several inches poke out. This is going to be the top of your candle, so do get the wick well-centered.

Put the epoxy mold back into the plastic container. Wrap the other end of the wick around the small stick, so that it is straight and taut going through the center.

Melt the wax. Add color and temperature at the appropriate temperatures. Put the molten wax into a pouring pot. Pour the molten wax into the opening of the mold, filling it up. You may need to reflow the top surface.

Let the wax cool.

Remove the candle, and trim the wick.