These beeswax heart-shaped tea light candles are so easy to make for Valentine’s Day using a silicone baking mold! We make batches of these every year for Valentines to hand out as gifts and they’re always well loved. If you’ve made (or are planning to make) DIY Recycled Crayon Valentines, this is a great project for you because it uses the same silicone mold. We make our candles with beeswax, but you can also use another type of wax if you prefer. Beeswax is my favorite option for candles because it helps to purify the air as you burn it, and it is a sustainable and renewable resource. This tutorial goes over the process of making the tea lights without sustainer tabs to hold the wicks but I recommend using them if you have them!

Materials:

– pure beeswax
– cotton candle wick 1/0
– candle wick sustainer tabs (optional)
– heart silicone mold or these metal heart tins
– a heat-proof container to melt your wax in (I use this stainless pitcher)
– metal cookie cutter
– candy thermometer
– tongs

Instructions for making heart beeswax tea lights

Step 1: How to melt beeswax

Place your melting pitcher (or whatever container you’re using to melt your wax in) inside of a larger pot. Place a metal cookie cutter under your pitcher so that the pitcher does not sit directly on the bottom of the larger pot. Fill the larger pot half way with water, then place the beeswax inside of the pitcher along with the thermometer. Heat the water and simmer over medium-low heat. You want your beeswax to liquify and reach a temperature between 150 and 170 degrees F.

Step 2: How to prepare your wick

While your wax is melting, prepare your wick by cutting pieces that are approximately 1.5” long. You will trim them at the end, so cut them at a length that is slightly longer than the final length that you’ll need.

Step 3: How to attach the wicks

Hold the wick using your tongs and lower it into the melted beeswax for about 10-15 seconds, until you no longer see air bubbles. This allows the wax to soak into the wick. Lift your wick out of he wax, immediately transferring to the bottom of the first silicone mold cavity, letting the excess wax pool at the bottom of the mold (which will help it to attach). Hold the wick in place for 5 seconds, or until you see the wax begin to harden and the wick is held in place. After a couple seconds (after the wax has begun to harden, but is still warm and pliable) you can gently straighten the wick. If the wick accidentally becomes detached, simply add another bead of beeswax to the bottom of the wick and repeat. Repeat this process for each individual cavity in the mold. You can also choose to dip all of the wicks in wax first, straighten them then attach each of them with a bead of beeswax. An alternative method is to use sustainer tabs to hold your wicks.

Step 4: Pouring the beeswax

Pour your beeswax into each mold cavity. You can pour directly from the pitcher (I like to use the mini-size pitcher from the shop to pour, since the spout is small and precise) or you may find it easier to pour into a small cup for more control. Let wax stand and harden. Remove from mold when wax has solidified completely and trim the wicks! Use the same technique if pouring into tins such as these. Let wax stand and harden before trimming the wicks.

How to use your tea light candles

Make sure that you place these tea lights inside of a container or on a dish to burn them. Never leave a burning candle unattended and always trim candle wicks to approximately 1/4” before lighting. Children and pets must be supervised at all times when burning candles. If you are not using sustainer tabs to hold your wicks I recommend not letting the tea lights burn down completely.