Yes, but it has been a long time. I never used citronella, but don't see where that would be a problem. I used the parafin wax that you use to seal jelly jars. I can't remember where I got the wicks, probably at a craft store. There only seems to be Hobby Lobby and Michael's now. They were everywhere in the 70"s and 80"s. We used broke crayons to tint the wax. You want an old saucepan and heat the wax on low and never leave. Think making a roux. You want it just barely melted, because the wax will catch fire. If you have a gas burner outside, even better. It can be reheated and cooled as much as you want. With your candle holder, the cooler the liquid wax the better.

ETA: If you find some citronella small candles, I don't see why you couldn't just melt them and pour into your holder.

ok... why an "old saucepan" btw? not sure i have such a thing.. will it be hard to remove the wax

That was just what was always in the instructions. I always thought it was because of the wax layer left.

Oh I didnt see where Sherry said 'old saucepan' and was about to chime to add that.

I made a LOT of candles in my teens, I had a designated wax melting pan, since it is difficult if not impossible to get the residual wax out so that you can use the pan

for cooking.

Hmm, ok, GTK. I guess I will try Goodwill for an old sauce pan.

Personally, If you wipe most of the wax out with a paper towel and then clean the pan, I don't see the difference. I scrub my stainless steel all the time with Bar Keeper's Friend. What would be the difference? Maybe the older pans didn't clean up as well, like aluminum.

ETA: Okay now I see local's post. I guess that was why. Like I said, it has been a while, lol.

The pan I used was aluminum, for what that is worth. It was a horrible pan.

I found the attached link about cleaning wax on a beekeeping site. Cleaning sounds like PITA but seems possible

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7381

Ummm, that must be why I always used an old pan!

Anyone remember the "ice" candles? You took an empty 1/2 gallon paper milk carton, put a wick from top to bottom, filled with cracked ice, and poured the hot wax in the carton. When cool, you peeled the carton off. Melting ice, hot wax, colored crayons, wow! Made a pretty candle though.

That’s what I used to do Maddielee

can i pour the wax in in layers? it will take several cans to do such a large, multiwick candle

Yes you can.

Do you have to use special string for the wick? We are having the same discussion at our house right now!

It is cotton string dipped in the wax. The bigger candles usually now have a metal base to hold the wick at the base. When you were making tapers, you just kept dipping and dipping the string in the wax and hanging it up with the same bottom always down. That is what made the taper with the bottom bigger than the top.

It is much easier now to just buy the premade wicks.

Like the others above, we used a can too, set inside another pan of water for fire safety. The ones that pineapple,tomato juice come in, are even bigger than a coffee can, which makes them a bit easier to handle.

Another tip is to pinch one edge of the can's rim to make a pouring 'spout'.

Instructions & supplies are likely easily available online - try Michaels.com &/or Joann.com...

Here're some supplies @ Joann's:

https://www.joann.com/search?q=candle+making

I have a large wax pouring pitcher for melting wax and it's not expensive and I bought it at either Michaels or Hobby Lobby. It doesn't drip and I love it

Yes, but probably not what you're looking for. LOL. It was in my 20s, with my maternal grandmother. They had a place at the beach and she would collect shells. We would cut the top off a half-gallon milk container, put candle in the center, fill with seashells and pour in hot wax. Could do with any size candle/container that could hold hot wax. Ah, the memories.

Michael's and other craft stores sell a variety of wicks depending on size of vessel etc. They have wax including soy. They also have scents, and coloring so that you can design the candle to your hearts content. Always use a pan of water, never directly heat wax on a flame. That is a fire hazard as well as a burn hazard if you spill it.

I always keep a few wicks at home and fill an old empty candle jar with the left over wax from a used up candle. I layer it in over time and in the end I have a layer cake candle. It amazes me how much wax is left at the end of an expensive candle, I never want to waste it. In addition, it's fun.

Was the the 60's and early 70s candle making was ALL the rage? 6th grade we each had a box of beach sand got it damp, made a indentation/shape/mold and then poured hot wax making candles. I wonder if that was art class or science? MIL made candles back about that same time I guess, fast forward 30 years, DH has all her candle making paraphernalia and made candles with our three kids. Yes you need special wick not just string. Wick has a tiny metal wire in it. Where will you get the citronella? Do they sell that at the craft store near the candle making items?

I too remember the ice candles. We too used an old can in a pan of water to melt the wax and had purchased wicks and tied them around the handle of a wooden spoon to hold it vertical while we filled the container first with crushed ice and then the wax. I remember making red ones for xmas time.

If I recall my chemistry, wax has no melting point so it will just keep getting hotter which is why you want to be careful with it.

In the old days, I too remember making hand casts with wax. It was tricky to get the wax warm enough to melt but not so hot as to burn, and then we'd dip our wet hand into the wax up to knuckles (but no further as then you couldn't get the wax off) into the melted wax. We'd dip it multiple times to build up the layers strong enough to hold, and then we'd carefully slip our hand out of the wax, leaving a mold of our hands.

I made candles a few years ago, using a bag of soy wax shavings and cintronella essential oil, both from Amazon. They turned out great! In fact I'm going to make them again yet this summer after seeing on Instagram some handmade concrete bowls filled with candle wax.

I got into making pillar candles years ago and bought 4" and 6" diameter molds as I like fairly pristine candles, so I can melt them down into new whenever I want. I tend to like plain, unscented ivory candles though. That always look new lol

Mtn, could you just clean out the container and buy a bunch of citronella votives to set in it? https://www.amazon.com/Zest-Candle-12-Piece-Candles-Citronella/dp/B00HV1I1L6

I used to have a citronella oil candle...not sure where it went, but I liked it because the wick would never drown... I'll have to buy a new one.

I made sand candles in the 70s, like Arcy describes above. I think we did them in Girl Scouts.

So. Very. 70s.

I used to make candles all the time, giving them as gifts. the price of wax, and scents got to be too much to continue. At first I could make them for 5.00 a candle but everything doubled/tripled. To make a candle that has scent all through it and burns right(not straight down the middle) you had to experiment with different sizes of wicks. anything that changed, size of container, wick size, scent, could throw it off. I used a melt hot pot I bought at a thrift store to melt the wax.