Candle Making: Hobby or Business?

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Monday, May 18th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

I remember the day I made my first wax candle at home, with supplies purchased from a local store. I just couldn’t get over my amazement at how much like a ‘real candle’ my effort looked, just as I couldn’t believe how relatively easy it had been. It was my friend Charlene, an aromatherapy expert, who had initiated me in the art of candle making, and today, I have a lot to thank her for. It is very gratifying when friends and family sing my candles’ praises, and blindly trust me to make them the best-looking and sweetest-smelling candles.

Plenty of people have recommended that I start selling my products, because from the initial wax candles, I had soon branched out to include aromatic candles and gel candles in my repertoire. Though I confess to being too lazy to run an organized business, I know plenty of people who have turned their hobby of candle making into a lucrative profession.

The money-spinning aspect of candle making has become prominent of late, as the candle has grown in popularity to become many things to many people. While aromatherapy enthusiasts swear by the soothing properties of a scented candle, interior decorators declare that there is nothing like a well-positioned set of candles to beautify a room.

Given the circumstances, it is hardly a surprise that candle making as an art is constantly gaining in popularity. This day, there are hundreds of books, web sites and both on the internet and offline classes that teach the art of making candles. For candle aficionados like Charlene, who taught candle making before switching to aromatherapy, teaching the art is only partly about making money. “It gives me a chance to share something I love,” she once told me.

Why does one want to learn candle making? For me, whom not many (including myself) thought was a particularly creative person, candle making offered a chance to find out whether that was indeed so. Having once begun, it was impossible to halt, despite the hours of patient effort I had to put in. Along the way, I discovered that candle making required great determination and discipline, not to mention time. But believe me, once you’ve mastered the art, the level of satisfaction makes all the effort worthwhile.

That’s not say that all types of candles require the same degree of time and effort. Some are also more pricey than others, but as you get better at the craft, you will find your own little shortcuts and innovations, which will help make your candles very special and cost-effective. I know, because I have been there and experience, as they say, is the ideal teacher. But whatever you do, please remember to adopt proper safety measures at all times, and don’t lose heart if your initial attempts don’t bear the kind of fruit you expect!

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