With a pinkalicious 6-year-old daughter, I now have an entirely new opinion on the color pink. My feelings for the ubiquitous color have ranged from irrational hatred to tired acceptance to now grudging appreciation. It’s an unabashedly girly color, and I rather admire my daughter’s desire to wear her ‘team pink’ allegiance with pride. (Though I still wish there was a tiny bit of room in the acceptable clothing color spectrum.)
But pink is one of the things I love about Valentine’s Day. And since we happen to love candles around here I turned some mason jars into pretty-in-pink candles.
Supplies needed:
- Mason jars
- Mod Podge (I like using the gloss or glitter kinds.)
- Red food coloring
- Soy wax
- Wicks
Instructions
Step 1
Combine 1 tablespoon gloss Mod Podge with 1/2 tablespoon water in a small cup. Add one drop of red food coloring and mix well. If you want a darker color, add food coloring one drop at a time. When you have a color you like, pour the mixture into the jar and swirl it around until the inside is completely covered.
Step 2
Pour out any excess liquid and let the jars dry for at least 45 minutes. Then bake at 225 degrees for 1 hour. Above is what the jar will look like once baked.
Step 3
After the jars have cooled, slowly melt the soy wax chips using a double broiler and secure the wick to the bottom of the jar. Once the wax is completely melted add essential oil scent and stir. Then pour into the jar and let it sit until the wax hardens. Trim wick if needed.
Note: the first candle I poured was in the short light pink jar. The pink color melted some and slid to the bottom, but it didn’t do that with the rest of the jars. I’m guessing it was because the wax was hotter with the first candle so I’d recommend letting the wax cool for a minute or so before pouring.
This is a great recycling project for old jars. Because when you have more jam jars than regular glasses, you might have a problem.
What is a good temperature to pour the wax so it won’t melt the color?
Thank you for this really awesome idea! I absolutely LOVE the color pink so now I need to get busy! Lol Question for you though- when the candle is finished, does the pink coloring stay in the jar? Or will it come off when it’s melting or when you wash it up at the end?
Hi there…as you burned the candles did you notice and issues with the color inside melting or running? Thanks!
Hi Natalie, thanks for the question! No, I haven’t had any issues :)
im just concerned about flammability. other websites are saying modpodge is flamamable? I cant find anything on the bottle of it but would really love to make the colored glass with candles for gifts. thanks
Where did you order your candle supplies(soy chips, wick…)
I get mine at Peak Candle or Candle Science. BUT I buy a case(soy or an all natural vegetable blend) at a time(50 or 55 pounds) But they DO sell it in smaller amounts. They also offer Palm(I don’t use do to destroying Rain Forest) Bees Wax and additives, molds, scent, color….
I love this idea.
For a candle novice, how do you “secure the wick to the bottom of the jar”?
Put some wax in the bottom
You can use wicks that already have a “disc” attached. Or you can buy them and put the wick in yourself. Or…lol….you can put a little wax in the bottom and hold wick till it sets enough to hold it. You can wrap the wick around a skewer or pencil, I use a clothes pin to hold it to a skewer laid across the jar if I’m out of wick tabs.
Are these mason jars already colored pink? I’ve never seen mason jars in any color than clear or maybe an old one with a blue hue. If they are already colored, where do you find colored/tinted mason jars? I love this idea!
Read the post. She colored them herself.
Read the directions up above and it tells you how to make them red/pink.
This is cool. How much essential oil do you add? How do you decide how many drops?
Hi Kat – the amount of essential oil you need somewhat depends on how much wax you have and the type of oil you’re using. So I’d start with 5-6 drops and then add more until you’re happy with the scent. Some oils, like peppermint, are really strong and you’ll need less. Others are milder and require more to get a strong enough scent. But ~10 drops per a candle this size is a rough estimate. Good luck!
For every 1lb. of wax add 1.5ounces of oil for a great scent throw off. Also if you leave it set for 2weeks to cure you will love the smell of the candle burning. And why soy well it burns at a lower temperature and it burns clean. Did you know paraffin candles are a by product of crude oil, and when burning, your putting oil in your homes air.
I absolutely love this! I have so many plain mason jars lying around (sometimes making jam is hard!). I loved pink as a child then went into a very long earth-tone loving hippie girl stage and now I’m back wanting to sport florescent pink, lol!
This is such a fun project, I didn’t know you could color jars like this! I love it (: I recently posted a DIY project using jars as well, because we had so many old jam jars I had just been stockpiling!
Oh – thank you so much for this DIY! I love it! I’ve been wondering for awhile now how I can color my mason jars…I love the light pink shade! I also love that this can be done with any color, really!
Candles are so fun to make and yours are so cute! =)