 Hey guys, welcome back. Today on the untidy artist we're making citronella candles with soy wax. Citronella is an essential oil that is great at repelling mosquitoes and so this is perfect to use outside during summer picnics or parties to keep unwanted guests such as mosquitoes away from your party. Let's grab some supplies and get started. The first thing you'll need is some natural soy wax flakes. You can find these at most any craft store. I like soy wax because it has a cleaner burn than per ifn and not as many toxins. And then you'll need a wick for your candle. You can either buy the wicks already attached to the wick holders or I bought my wicks and then the little wick holder clips and I'll show you how to attach those. And I got these all at Hobby Lobby and you'll need some pliers and then some essential oils. So I'm using citronella essential oil. This is our main oil that will keep away our mosquitoes. Some lemon eucalyptus and some lemon grass which is one of my favorite scents. Now you can just use citronella if you would like. In the comments below I will have different ways that you can combine these essential oils. Then you'll need something to put your candle in and I found these eight ounce mason jars at my grocery store and thought these would be perfect for candles. You'll need a glugan. I have mine set on low and a measuring cup that has a porous belt on it and you can either do this in your microwave. I prefer doing it over a double boiler. So I'm kind of making my own double boiler here. It was also easier to demonstrate. So I have my little stove top and I'm going to put a small pound on it with some water. And while that's starting to heat up I'm going to make my wicks. So you want to measure the wick a few inches longer than your container that you're putting it in. Then you're going to take the wick and thread it through the wick holder and use your pliers. You'll just gently crimp the ends of your little wick holder to hold the wick in place. And then I trim off the back of it and you can see it's nice and sturdy and held in place. And you want to attach it to your container that you're putting your candle in. So figure out exactly where the middle of your container is and then I just used a pen to kind of push my glue down, put some glue on the end of my little wick holder and secured my wicks in the middle of my containers. So now that those are all good to go and my water is warm I'm going to measure out four cups of soy wax flakes. When this melts down it will give me two cups of melted oil. So I have two containers that are each eight ounces or one cup and this wax will fill up both of my candles. So once again four cups of the wax will melt down to two cups of oil filling my two cups of candles. So over a low simmering water you want to start to melt down your wicks and give it a good stir every like minute or so. I kind of keep an eye on it and you'll notice that the wax will start to melt down. I like to use the back of my spoon to really get the soy wax to start melting and it takes about five to ten minutes to get it melted down and you'll see it'll turn nice and clear and as soon as you can't see any more of the candle wax that's solid you're good to go. Next step is to add your oils. Our main oil will be citronella because this is what will keep our mosquitoes away and you'll want to add anywhere from 20 to about 35 drops of the citronella depending on how strong you want the candle to be. Then you will add about 10 to 20 drops of the lemon grass and 10 to 20 drops of the lemon eucalyptus. One thing to keep in mind with this candle is that when you're using essential oils you're not going to get a really strong scent. So don't expect something like a yanky candle scent that's really strong. Essential oils burn a lot lighter and a lot cleaner and for something outdoors where you want to kind of keep the air nice and clean and keep the bugs away. This is perfect. Classic creates a lovely ambience. Once your essential oils have been thoroughly and gently mixed into your wax you're going to pour it into your container pour it along the wick and you'll want to pour within leaving about a fourth inch at the top and then you want something to stabilize your wick. So I found these little bag holders I got from IKEA and you want the wick to be standing up right in the middle of your candle. So it burns evenly and so it's in the center and not off to the side. You can use tape. I've seen people use popsicle sticks. This seemed to work perfectly. Once you have both of your candles poured you want to set them in a spot that they won't be disturbed at all and let them sit overnight for at least 24 hours and that is honestly the hardest part. After 24 hours your candles should look like this. You can see the tops there is a little bit of bubbling. If you want to call it that you can use a hairdryer to kind of melt that down and make it smoother. I didn't seem to mind because I was going to light my candle anyway. You'll want to trim the wicks so it's about a fourth inch and that's it guys. You're all set. You have a beautiful clean burning natural soy wax citronella candle to fight off unwanted guests at your picnics or even just when you're outdoors. These create a lovely ambience for a picnic while keeping mosquitoes away. Thank you guys so much for watching. If you have any comments or questions please post those below. If you haven't already subscribed please do. That would be amazing. If you'd like to check out other tutorials you can do that at untidyartists.com or on my YouTube channel and as always I really appreciate your supports and give this a thumbs up if you liked it. Thanks so much guys. We'll see you next time.