DIY Cintronella Candles

Now that our front porch is looking good, we have been spending a lot more time outside, which means that my legs are pretty much covered in big red welts. Guys, mosquitoes LOVE me. I think to them, my legs look giant turkey legs and they just can't help themselves. Yes, now you can call me Turkey Legs.

Anyway, I wanted to buy some citronella candles for the porch, but they were way more expensive than I thought. I also read that most of them contain a faux-citronella which actually doesn't really work that well. I know, devastating information. So instead of sitting around, being devastated, I made my own! Here's how I did it:

Supplies Needed:

Citronella Oil

Soy Wax

Candle Wick

Chopsticks
Not pictured: glass containers

*all links are to the exact items I purchased 

Step 1: Tie your wick around the chopstick and cut it to the length of your candle containers. Don't worry about the extra length at the top - you'll cut it later. Also, make sure the wick goes all the way down to the bottom of the container and stays as close to the middle as possible. You can use hot glue to keep the wick in place.

Step 2: Melt the wax using a double broiler (or the two pots with water in between method that I used here) . There should be directions on your wax container, but here are some general guidelines:
- when the wax melts, it takes up less space, so measure about double the dry wax that fits in each container
- melt the wax at a medium/low heat, stirring occasionally
- take the wax off the "broiler" as soon as it is a complete liquid



 Step 3: Pour the hot wax into the containers. Try to disturb the wick as little as possible. Add the citronella oil to each candle. I added a lot (probably 10-15 drops per candle).



Step 4: Let the wax sit in your refrigerator until it hardens (2-5 hours).  

Step 5: Snip the candle wicks.



Step 6: Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

I am very happy with how the candles turned out. I love the way they smell and the wax is very solid (I thought adding a lot of oil might make them watery, but it didn't). I also have plenty of citronella oil left, so this might be a project I do every summer.

Tell me, how do you keep the mosquitoes away? 

make your own citronella candles