Candles are an amazing addition to your house decor. When you can make them at home, you can use so many ways to decorate them and add a personal touch to them. So, what’s better than having a personally designed candle at home. The best thing is, that it can last for a lifetime as well.
You can make lifetime-lasting oil candles using only two things: liquid paraffin oil/olive oil and fiberglass/ceramic wicks. For decorating the candle, add water to the bottom and add the decorative pieces in it. Glass jars, vases, bottles, anything inflammable can be the container.
There’s a whole step-by-step guide and a lot of tips and tricks to make a DIY lifetime oil candle here. If you are interested in learning how to make the perfect oil candle and decorating it, read further!
Make Your Own Lifetime Oil Candle
Candles make the environment of your house pleasant and add a beautiful vintage vibe to your decor. Making an oil candle is quite easy and you can keep it with yourself for a lifetime. Oil candles are trendy because they last a lifetime. After all, you can top up the candle with oil when it runs out.
Things You Need
Here’s everything you need to make your oil candles at home:
- Non Flammable Glass Jar/Vase/Bottle
- Fiberglass or Ceramic Wick
- Wick Holder
- Liquid Paraffin Oil or Olive Oil
| Type of Oil | Quantity | Burning Time |
| Liquid Paraffin Oil | 1 Fl. Oz. | 2 Hours |
| Olive Oil | 1 Fl. Oz. | 1.5 Hours |
| Vegetable Oil | 1 Fl. Oz. | 2 Hours |
Useful Tips
- Prepare your glass jar or bottle beforehand – ensure it isn’t flammable. It should be clean and free of any debris or dirt. You can wash it with water and dishwashing soap a day or two before making the candle and let it dry completely.
- You can get scented or unscented paraffin oil depending upon your preference. If you have any allergies or don’t like scents, unscented liquid paraffin oil is perfect for you. You can add different scents to the candle to give it a personal touch.
- The thing with fiberglass or ceramic wicks is that they don’t burn up quickly like cotton wicks. If you want a long-lasting wick, you can get Happyyami Fiberglass Candle Wicks. These wicks draw up more oil than others so that they keep on burning.
How to Make Lifetime Oil Candles? Step-by-Step Guide
We have two different ways to make oil candles. You can follow the one that is suitable for you. So, let’s take you through the whole process of making lifetime oil candles at home!
Paraffin Oil Candles:
Step #1 (Oil Pouring)
Take your already cleaned and washed glass jar or bottle and pour liquid paraffin oil into it. If you are using a bottle, you can use a funnel to pour the oil inside it without dropping it here and there.
Don’t fill the bottle or jar all the way to the top. Leave at least ½-1 inch spare.
Step #2 (Wick Assembly)
Assemble the wick by putting it on the wick holder. Carefully insert the whole assembly inside the glass jar/bottle.
Step #3 (Oil Soaking)
Let the wick soap up the oil before lighting it up. Wait at least 20 minutes before trying out your new candle. After that, you can light up your candle and enjoy the beautiful glow around your house.
Fancy Olive Oil Candles:
Step #1 (Aesthetics)
To make a fancy, aesthetic, and beautiful olive oil candle, add some flowers, herbs, or fruits (lemon or lime with leaves) in a glass mason jar.
Step #2 (Water Pouring)
Add water to the jar all the way to the top leaving about 3 inches spare. In the water, the herbs or flowers will stay fresh for about a week after which you can change them.
Step #3 (Oil Pouring)
For this candle, any oil such as vegetable oil or olive oil can do the job. You can use any available oil at home.
Pour oil in the water until a layer of about ½ inches is formed. The oil will sit on top of the water helping the wick to burn.
Step #4 (Floating Wick Preparation)
You need a floating wick for this candle so that it can sit on top of the oil and burn perfectly such as this Round Floating Wick set. They have 50 wick pcs, a disc-shaped holder, and a wick remover.
Insert the wick inside the disc wick holder and make sure it stays in place.
Step #5 (Wick Insertion)
Place the wick holder on top of the oil in the jar and wait for it to soak up the oil. The wick holder floats on top and the wick material is such that it draws sufficient oil up to be burning without blowing off.
Burn your candle and enjoy!
Aesthetic Decoration Ideas for Oil Candles
There are tons of ways that you can use to make your candles beautiful and aesthetic. This way, it will add a unique element to your house decor and look pleasing to the eyes as well. So, let’s give you some decorative ideas for oil candles! You can use them for both olive oil and liquid paraffin oil candles.
Glitter Addition
Glitter is the simplest way to add glamor, beauty, or sheen to anything. You can add glitter in the water and give it a good shake so that it doesn’t sit at the bottom. You can use colorful glitter or any color that you like.
Make sure you add enough so that you can actually see the glitter through the jar.
Hand-Painted Mason Jars
Mason jars themselves look quite adorable as candles. But if you want to add something extra to your candles, you can use glass paint and paint the mason jar. You can also paint a glass bottle or jar with it.
You can take inspiration from famous paintings such as The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh or simply draw flowers. There are endless possibilities to this idea and totally depends upon your preference.
Artificial Flowers or Pebbles
If you add real flowers, leaves, herbs, or fruits in the olive oil candles, you will have to change them frequently as they will die down in a few days. Even though they will look quite mesmerizing you can still go for artificial flowers so that you don’t have to change them all the time.
Just make sure that you don’t keep the artificial flowers too close to the wick to prevent them from burning.
Other such things that won’t require changing include:
- Pebbles or Rocks
- Seashells
- Cute Big Buttons
- Pines
Scented Effect
There are a few ways you can get the scent out of your oil candle. First, you can add a scent or essential oil of your choice such as lavender, vanilla, cinnamon, etc to the burning oil. As the oil burns, the essential oil will give out a pleasant smell.
Another way is to add citrus fruits to the water. You can use lime, lemon, oranges, etc for a natural fruity scented candle.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do You Make a Long-Lasting Candle?
For a long-lasting candle, you can use oil instead of wax. Wax burns up and finishes and it’s a whole process of remaking the candle. But you can also add more oil to an oil candle. That way, it lasts for a long time.
How Long Do Oil Candles Last?
A little bit of oil goes a long way in an oil candle. You only need about ½ ounce of oil to burn the candle for an hour. Some factors that can affect this time are the size of the wick and the kind of oil you are using in the candle.
Which Oil Lasts the Longest in Oil Candles?
Liquid paraffin oil burns for a long time in oil candles. Therefore, professional oil candles contain paraffin oil. It comes in both scented and unscented ways so everyone can find a suitable type. There’s no smoke or soot from this oil which keeps the environment pleasant when burnt.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know how to make lifetime oil candles and add decorations to them, you can make creative, unique, and amazing ones at home. Do add some personal touches to the candles so that burning them and keeping them feels nice.
Make sure that the jar or bottle you are using isn’t flammable. You can gift this homemade candle to someone too by making it beautiful. It would be a beautiful gesture. So, happy candle-making!
