You've probably already heard about the latest craze in the world of candles and aromatherapy: wax tarts! Many companies have been quick to incorporate this idea into their product lines, and we have even seen entire home party businesses built around these fun and decorative tarts. Essentially, they are exactly that- small pieces of wax which can be melted to release a wonderful scent. They can be melted on top of oil diffusers like the selection we carry here at Voyageur, or in the specialized plug-in melters that you may have seen featured at sales parties lately.
When we recently saw how easy wax tarts are to make on Pinterest, we knew we wanted to give them a try! You also may have seen that we recently brought in a selection of molds for wax tarts from our friends at Milky Way Molds. These little gems come in such wonderful designs and are even great used to make Melt & Pour Soap embeds.
One of the best things about making your own wax tarts is that the possibilities are endless! You can make them as decorative or as plain as you would like. You can have so much fun playing around with candle colourants, fragrance oils, essential oils and fine detailing, making them great for personal use or as beautiful handmade gifts. Plus many wax tarts on the market are made from paraffin wax but we found that our EcoSoya Pillar Blend melted wonderfully, which is great for those that are wanting to stay away from petroleum based products and use natural vegetable derived waxes.
When we got our shipment of wax tart molds, it was like Christmas morning as we became excited at the prospect of making our own wax tarts. We couldn't help but notice that the detailing on top of the Celtic Knot Mold resembled the delicious woven top of a pie! We soon knew that the first wax tart project had to Mini Apple Pie Wax Tarts! We think they turned out pretty well, and they melt beautifully.
To make these, you will need:
Soap Injector Tool (Optional)
Each cavity in the mold holds .25 oz, so you do not need very much wax to make all 9 tarts (only 2.25 oz or 67.5 grams)
As I mentioned previously, these wax tarts can be made to suit your creativity and are very easy to customize.
You want about 3/4 of the wax to have the Golden Honey colour, so separate just a small portion of wax that will be coloured red for the "pie filling".
First, melt the majority of the wax for the "pie crust" in the microwave (We used a small glass measuring cup which worked very well and cleans easier than plastic). Melt it in 30 second bursts, stirring between intervals. The ideal temperature that you want to achieve is around 150 degrees Celsius. Now add colour and fragrance. Cut or grate the candle dye into small shreds and add into the hot wax. Stir in well and keep in mind that when the wax cools it will be lighter in colour than it appears when in it's liquid stage. As far as fragrance goes, add as much or as little as you would like- since there is no flame coming in contact with the wax, you don't run the risk of the fragrance catching fire.
You want to pour the wax into the mold at as close to the 150 degree mark as possible, so try to work fast when adding the colour and fragrance and keep in mind that the fragrance will drop the temperature. Re-heat in the microwave if you feel the need.
Since the knotted detailing area on the top is so shallow, it is very hard to pour such a small amount of wax straight from the melting container. I found it easy to use the soap injector tool. Cut a bit of the tip of the injector tool off to allow you to dispense a better amount of wax.
Try not to fill above the knot indent. This may be tricky at first but gets easier with practice. Of course, the knotted area is such a small portion of the wax you have melted for the "crust", so just set the rest aside and re-melt when you are ready to fill the rest.
Allow the wax in the mold to cool fully (this takes almost no time at all), before adding more wax.
Melt your secondary container of wax and follow the same steps by adding colour and fragrance. I would recommend using the soap injector tool for this part as well. You can either use a secondary tool, or clean out the injector tool that you used before, using boiling water.
You will notice that there is a small lip or indent on the face of the mold, under the knot. I have circled a bit of it here:
The goal is to try to only fill that area with the red wax. It is hard to do, and looks just fine even if you fill over the line a bit, but it really emphasizes the pie "crust" being separate from the "filling" when you have that definition. In the photo of the finished tarts above, I picked two of the ones that were the most successfully detailed.
Once you are done with the red area, re-melt the rest of the brown wax and once the red layer has cooled, pour the rest in, filling the molds. This part is much less intricate and can be done by simply pouring from your container.
And there you have it: Mini apple pies! And just imagine the variety of little pies you could make. Blueberry cobbler is next the list..or perhaps Bee Tarts scented with Oatmeal, Milk and Honey!
With warm regards,
The team at Voyageur Soap and Candle
