What Does a Typical Candle Making Class Look Like?

So you're interested in joining one of our public classes or booking a private workshop and you're wondering what the process looks like. Well this is the page for you!

To date, we've taught more than 2000 students to make candles! Each class is very hands on and we personalize the instruction based on the interests of each student. Our goal is for every student to leave class with a sense of pride in creating a completely unique craft. And for them to take away an appreciation for slowing down to appreciate small details - stopping to smell the roses is one way to say it.

Every class starts with understanding the basics of aromatherapy. We talk through the principles of how to build a fragrance - understanding the different characteristics that aromatics have and how to combine them together to create something new. At the shop, we only work with natural ingredients. You won’t find artificial fragrances like “pumpkin pie” or “apple pie”. Although they smell great, artificial fragrance can cause headaches for people with sensitive noses. So, we source from local Texas companies first, and then curate unique oils from across the globe. The result is a completely unique library of 100% natural essential oils.

You'll have the chance to smell different aromatics, combine them together, and play with the ratios until you land on something that is uniquely you. We'll measure out the right amount of oil considering the size of the candle vessel and the amount of wax used. It's an art and a science - a lot like cooking! You start with a recipe, but then you need to stop, smell, and adjust on the fly to make sure it suits your taste. Don't drink the wax though, that would be bad.

Once our oils are measured out, we add them to the wax at just the right temperature. Too hot, and the oils will burn off and your candle won't smell the way you intended. Too cold, and our candle texture might change losing the smooth finish we are hoping for. The wax we use for most workshops is a blend of coconut and soy wax. Based on a lot of experimentation, we feel that this type of wax does the best job when it comes to holding fragrance and also it is clean burning compared to synthetic waxes like Paraffin.

Now it's time for steady hands. Our coconut soy wax is fully infused with beautiful natural fragrance and we're ready to pour it into our vessel. We have all kinds of vessels available for classes - ranging from glass jars to handmade concrete containers. Below you will see a student pouring into a hand-carved wooden bowl which is our signature offering.

The the final step is to decorate. We dry various herbs, fruit peels, flowers and herbs in house. Our way of making candles is intimately connected to nature. There is something so grounding about working with natural materials - crushing rose petals in your hand or feeling the sticky oil residue from rosemary leaves left on your fingers. I'm always so impressed with how students bring their own personal sense of style to their candles. No two ever look exactly the same, like wonderful whimsical impressionist paintings.

At this point the hard work is done! All that's left is to allow your candle to solidify and then clip off the wicks. The candles will harden enough that you are able to take them with you at the end of class. There are some cases where a candle isn't ready or a student has to leave early but it's pretty rare.

And there you have it, a completely unique craft that you dreamed into existence. Make sure to wait three days to burn your candle so it has time to fully cure. And once you burn it all the way through, bring it back into the shop so we can clean and recycle your vessel or refill it for you.

Looking forward to hosting you. Go to this page for more details on class packages.