Lavender is THE herb of relaxation. This pressed lavender candle adds a beautiful natural look and a heavenly scent that brings peace and serenity to your space. This beautiful design uses real herbs pressed inside a glass canning jar to decorate the candle.
I’ve made quite a few candles over the years, but I can’t deny how special these pressed lavender candles are to me. I’ve never been shy about my love for lavender. A trip out to the lavender fields is my version of Disneyland.
Needless to say, I always have plenty of lavender hanging around. I make herbal-infused oils to harness the powerful properties of lavender, use its aromatherapy in the bath and around the house, and the flowers themselves for their beauty.
This DIY lavender candle truly is gardener eye candy. Any time I can feature real botanicals in projects and recipes, they always turn out so effortlessly beautiful with their natural style.
This post will cover…
- How to Make Lavender Candles Safely
- Homemade Candles With Lavender
- Materials
- Make It!
- Gift It!
- Frequently Asked Questions About Lavender Candles
- More DIY Candles
How to Make Lavender Candles Safely
When it comes to including botanicals in candles, you want to be extra careful with placement. This is so the botanicals themselves don’t catch on fire. For these candles, I recommend harvesting your lavender and then pressing it with a flower press.
This ensures that the lavender buds stay to the side of the jar and don’t interfere with burning at all! You can use this project with any herbs you like; just make sure to always use dried and pressed botanicals! This will ensure your botanicals stay away from the flame and remain as beautiful as ever.
Additionally, the wicks are a slightly thinner diameter than would normally be used for a wide mouth jar like this; that way, the wax will not burn to the sides of the jar, dislodging the pressed herbs.
When the candle has burned to the bottom of the jar, you can add a votive or tea light in its place and continue to enjoy the pressed lavender flowers and leaves on the jar.
Homemade Candles With Lavender
Lavender is the herb of relaxation and serenity. It’s a heavenly floral scent that helps you wind down and de-stress. Try lighting one as part of your before-bed routine to soothe and relax you. Just make sure you blow out the candle before falling into a peaceful slumber.
Materials
Makes one 16 oz (450g) candle. See the recipe card for exact measurements.
Jump to Recipe- Wide-mouth glass canning jar
- Soy wax for container candles
- Beeswax pastilles
- HTP 104 6” waxed and wired wick with tab
- Lavender essential oil for scent (optional)
- Pressed young English lavender leaves and flower stems
Make It!
Harvest young lavender flowers and leaves on thin green stems (not the older woody stems with large flowers) and press them between heavy books or a wooden flower press for a week until they are very flat and dry. Cut the lavender stems so they will sit at least 1” below the rim of the jar.
Weigh wax and melt in a double boiler with a thermometer attached. Measure the lavender essential oil in the paper cup and set it aside.
Dip a pressed lavender bloom in the melted wax. Working quickly, place the stem on the inside of the jar; use the paintbrush to press it firmly in place as the wax cools.
Next, brush melted wax over the lavender stem to hold it in place. Continue to add lavender stems around the inside of the jar, ensuring that each is pressed completely flat on the jar.
When the lavender appliques have dried, add a dab of hot glue or wax adhesive to attach the wick to the center bottom of the jar. Prop up the wick with a chopstick or clothespin to keep it centred.
If you’re adding colour and fragrance, bring the wax to the specified temperature for adding dye or scent oil (160°F–see the instructions for your wax). Add colour and scent and mix through to combine. Cool wax to 140°F and carefully pour into jars.
Wrap a towel around the outside of the jar and set it aside to cool. Be careful not to disturb the candle too much while it sets. Once set, trim the wick to 1/4″ above the wax.
Gift It!
These candles make a fantastic and appreciated gift. While you can simply gift the candle as-is, I like to add a finishing touch that makes it extra special.
Add a lid to the jar and attach a chalkboard label to the top of the lid. Use a chalk marker so the message won’t rub off easily (but it will come off with water and a cloth). Practice your script a few times before you add it to the label
Keep in mind that whoever is lucky enough to get this beautiful homemade candle with lavender won’t be critiquing your handwriting! They will be far too taken with the candle and thoughtful sentiment.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lavender Candles
Lavender is a very versatile scent and pairs well with just about anything! It has a very clean and vibrant scent that affects different pairings differently. It can help soften woodsy scents like black pepper, cedarwood, and bergamot. When combined with citrus scents like lemongrass, lime, grapefruit, or orange, it adds a herbal note. My other favourite scent combinations include geranium, ylang-ylang, rose, peppermint, and eucalyptus.
You can add these scents to your lavender candle by adding in essential oils of your chosen scent at the same time you would the lavender essential oils.
Dried lavender and lavender essential oils are known to promote relaxation and destress. It helps to relieve tension when you feel like you need to de-stress. The scent has been scientifically proven to help reduce anxiety and stabilize your overall mood.
One of the most popular scents in aromatherapy, you can use lavender to promote relaxation. Lighting this DIY lavender candle can help treat insomnia and allow you to enter slow-wave sleep, the part of sleep where our brains organize data and charge for the following day.
Just make sure you never leave the candle burning while you nap or drift off into sleep. You can pair this candle with a herbal dream pillow or these lavender eye pillows.
More DIY Candles
- Easy DIY Citronella Candles
- How to Make Soy Candles for Any Mood
- Make Your Own Healing Crystal Candle
- DIY Rosemary Pressed Herb Candles
Homemade Pressed Lavender Candles
Equipment
- Paper cup
- Old towel
- craft paintbrush
- Clothespins or chopsticks
Supplies
- 1 16 oz wide-mouth canning jar (475 ml)
- 0.6 lb soy wax for container candles (270 g)
- 0.4 lb beeswax pastilles (180 g)
- 1 HTP 104 6" waxed and wired wick with tab
- 1 oz lavender essential oil (30 ml)
- Pressed young English lavender leaves and flower stems (with leaves and flowers no larger than 1" long and 1/2" wide)
Instructions
- Harvest and press lavender flowers for 1 week. Include the leaves and only harvest thin green stems (no older woody stems). Cut the lavender stems to sit 1" below the top of the jar.
- Use the kitchen scale to weigh your wax. Weigh your lavender essential oil and set it aside.
- Melt your wax over a double boiler. Did the pressed lavender in the wax and work quickly to press it against the side of the jar. Use a craft paintbrush to help hold it in place and paint additional wax over the flowers. Ensure each stem is pressed firmly against the side of the jar.
- Once dry, attach your wick to the bottom of the jar with glue or wax adhesive. Use a chopstick or clothespin to hold it up.
- Add the essential oils. Refer to your wax instructions to see what temperature to add the oils (typically around 160°F). Mix well.
- Pour the wax into the jars. Wrap a towel around the candles and let it sit undisturbed to cool. When set, trim the wicks to 1/4" above the wax.
I tried this with flower petals but when I poured the wax the petals became dislodged. I assume the hot wax melted the wax holding the petals to the side of the jar. Any suggestions?
Yes, allow the wax to cool enough that when you pur it, it doesn’t melt the wax on the sides of the jar.