If you would love to find a frugal way to start making candles, you might find these tips useful.

1. Purchase supplies towards the end of each season

One of the many enjoyable aspects of candle making is producing seasonal candles, such as leaf-embossed ones with autumnal scents like apple and cinnamon, and sparkly holiday candles in the shapes of familiar symbols. However, if your candle-making budget is extremely modest, you might find that most of the available seasonal candle moulds and fragrances are out of your price range—even if these goods are being sold at very reasonable prices.

If this is the case but you would still like to have the chance to utilise these lovely candle-making supplies, then you should start purchasing, for example, the Autumnal items at the end of October or November, and the Christmas-themed candle-making goods at the end of December or the start of January. At these points, those who own candle-making supply stores will usually start to run sales on their current collection of seasonal supplies. As such, you may be able to buy your Christmas candle moulds at two-thirds or half of the price they were previously being sold at.

While this approach does mean that you will have to wait until next Autumn or Christmas to start utilising these supplies, this won't matter much if you're committed to this hobby and plan to practise it for many years. Furthermore, stocking up on these candle-making supplies in advance will mean that you'll have specific candle-making projects to look forward to throughout the year.

Splurge on the essential equipment and save on the less vital candle making supplies

Whilst there is nothing wrong with taking a frugal approach to this hobby, it is important to know where to draw the line when it comes to trying to save money. If your budget is small, you should not forgo certain essential forms of equipment, just because they're a bit costly. You should instead buy these items and then look for ways to save money elsewhere.

For example, when stocking up on goods at a candle-making supply store, you must ensure that you get a decent thermometer, especially if you plan to add fragrances to your candles, as most fragrance oils will only meld fully with candle wax at a particular temperature. If you try to just guess the temperature of the wax before adding scents to it, you will find that the candle only emits a fragrance at certain points in the burning process or that the fragrance is barely detectable at all.

If getting a thermometer leaves a rather large hole in your candle-making fund, don't worry; there are other ways to save that won't compromise the quality of the candles you make. For example, rather than buying specially-designed candle holders, you can pour your candles into vintage china teacups (which you can often pick up for a few dollars in second-hand shops) or used and washed heat-resistant jars.

For more insight on starting a new hobby, contact a candle-making supply shop.