1.
First wash your champagne flutes and allow to dry completely.
Tie the wicks around a bamboo skewer or pencil and cut to the proper
length of the flute, so they just touch the bottom of the glass.
Then balance the bamboo skewer over the glasses, so the wicks
hang down the middle.
2. Get your pot ready. Gel wax is very easy to
clean up, so you don't have to have a "dedicated" candle cooking pot,
although it does help. The gel, once cooled, will simply peel
off from the inside of the pot. Then the pot can be washed
with grease-fighting dish detergent. Cut the gel wax with a
knife, then use a spoon or your hands to pull out chunks of the wax to
put in the pot. Don't be afraid to use our hands.
Gel wax is very clean and using your hands is usually the easiest way
to get it out! Try to over-estimate rather than
under-estimate the amount of wax you need, since any extra is
re-usable.
3. Heat the wax over the lowest heat setting on the
stove until it begins to melt. Never use a microwave!
You can stir the wax to speed up the process.
NOTE:
Usually when working with gel wax you should NOT stir it, since this
introduces bubbles. But since we want bubbles in the
champagne candles, stirring is fine.
Once it is all melted, you are ready to move on to the next
step. DO NOT let it sit long after it has melted, as it can
get too hot. Follow the manufacturer's instructions
exactly. They may suggest using a candy
thermometer. Gel wax is highly flammable, so use
caution. Never leave the pot and watch it
constantly. If it does ignite, do not pour water on it.
Instead, extinguish by covering with the lid or use baking
soda.
4. Once the wax is melted, add one tiny drop of yellow
coloring. Then stir it into the wax with a spoon.
Test the color by spooning up some wax and dropping a small amount on
some white paper. If it is too yellow for your liking, add in
some more wax to dilute the color. If you would like
to add a scent, this is the time to do that too.
5. Pour the wax carefully into the prepared flutes.
Use a bamboo skewer to carefully stir up the wax once it is poured in
the flutes. This will help bubbles to form. You may
not see many bubbles while the wax is hot (as you can see in the photo
below right). Don't worry, when you check on them in several
hours there will be bubbles that appeared. Let the champagne
candles sit undisturbed for several hours until set.
6. Once the champagne candles are set, just trim the wicks to
1/4 inch or so and they are ready to burn. For clean-up, just
rinse the pot immediately with some cool water and the gel will
solidify and you can peel it off and save for later use. Then
just let the pot soak with some warm water and dish detergent to remove
any left-over residue, and scrub off with a sponge.
