Half Day Candle Workshop, Midlothian

• Make a 100% natural soy wax scented container candle
• Choose your own fragrance and paper to decorate
• Learn a new skill in a fun and relaxed environment

I love scented candles, so when I was given the opportunity to make my own I jumped at the chance! This is a great experience, whether you are creative or not, and by the end of the workshop you’ll have a lovely candle to take home.

Natasha and I were lucky enough to get a lovely, sunny Monday morning when we made the drive out of the city to a picturesque village in Midlothian. On arrival, we were greeted by Kerry, who runs the workshops from her home. She invited us in and offered us a cup of tea or coffee in the large, farmhouse style kitchen while we waited for our fellow candle-makers. Once everyone had arrived we were all invited to introduce ourselves to the group, and Kerry went on to explain what we would be doing.

Everything was set out ready for us to get started. At each place setting we had our tin, wick and the table had several different fragrances in pre-measured quantities. We immediately took turns at smelling all the different fragrances and sharing our favourites. While we deliberated over our fragrance choice, Kerry melted the wax. Once melted we had to make the tough decision, I went for a zesty fruity fragrance, Thai Lime & Mango that I stirred into my own pot of soy wax.

After around two minutes of stirring we were ready to pour our candles. We positioned our wicks and poured the wax from pot to tin. At this stage we left them to set and got to enjoy another tea break with some delicious home baking! During the setting process, Kerry shared some tales of lessons she had learned through trial and error and the best techniques for trying candle making at home. She also shared her best practices for burning and maintaining our new creations to get the best out of them.

While we enjoyed our tea and cake, Kerry showed us some of the new ideas she was trying out with different fragrances and new products. Once we had finished our cakes it was time to complete our candles. We were given a choice of craft paper to add the finishing touches to our tins to make them truly our own! I opted for a geometric pattern and managed to fix it to the tin fairly straight!

When our candles were complete we got the opportunity to ask any questions and purchase any additional supplies or candles that Kerry herself had made. Fully stocked with our bags full of goodies we thanked Kerry for the fun workshop and said goodbye to our fellow experience goers and headed back to the city.

Kerry was friendly and very informative and I absolutely love my candle. I would recommend this experience to anyone! It was a lovely way to spend a few hours and I felt really proud of myself for making something from scratch. Now every time I burn the candle it reminds me of how fun it was making it, and it smells amazing too!