I'm going to be leading you through the steps of how to make cute little pumpkin scented candles inside a little pumpkin! This is a super cute and easy way to make your home look, and smell, more like fall. My family and I enjoy making these candles every year when fall rolls around so I thought, what better way to kick off fall than sharing this with the rest of the world? Completing this project really kicks off fall and gets me into the swing of all things fall. This is a great activity to do with kids, friends, or all by yourself with a cup of hot cider! I hope you enjoy this little tradition and make it one of your own.

Supplies

For this project you will need...

Unscented, white paraffin wax chips (enough to fill your pumpkin)
Pumpkin spice and Cinnamon (for smell, to you liking)
A wick (cut to length of pumpkin with enough room to light)
Red and yellow food coloring
A small pumpkin, hollowed out
Microwave safe bowl
Pot
Hot glue gun
A knife (to cut open your pumpkin)
A pumpkin scraper (to hollow out pumpkin)

Step 1: Clean Your Pumpkin and Slice It Open

For this step, you want to pick out a pumpkin that says "Fall" to you the most. Once you have acquired the pumpkin, you are going to clean off any dirt around the outside. Once it's all clean, dry off the pumpkin so you have a better grip when you cut it open. To cut it open, you are going to want a serrated knife and muscles. Score around the top of the pumpkin where you want your hole to be with your knife. Once that is done and you are sure it will expose the guts of the pumpkin after it's removed, begin to cut the pumpkin along your scored line. Don't stick your knife directly into the pumpkin so you know that it's for sure going along the scored line. I used a sawing motion to go around the score. Remove the top and throw it away as you won't use it for the rest of this project.

Step 2: Gutting the Pumpkin and Preparing It for the Wax

To complete this step, you are going to take a spoon, or a pumpkin scraper, and scrape out the inside of your pumpkin until all of the guts have been removed, discard guts. (The first picture is what the pumpkin should look like after it's gutted and sized down.) I then took a steak knife and hallowed it out even more to make sure the sides were far away enough from where the wick is going to be so it doesn't burn the pumpkin when you light the candle. Once it's been gutted and hallowed, if need be, you are going to rinse it out with water and then pat it dry with a paper towel. I didn't do this next step, but if you are using a bigger pumpkin and you don't want it to rot as fast, prepare a bleach to water solution with a ratio of 1:10. Let that soak for up to 24 hours. Once you soak your pumpkin, take it out and safely discard of the solution. Rinse the pumpkin and pat dry. Once the pumpkin is dry, you want to take your wick and hot glue it to the bottom of the pumpkin in the center.

Step 3: Making the Wax

For this step you are going to want to fill your pot half way full with water and put it on the stove. Allow the water to heat up and then add your smaller glass container into the pot to create a double boiler. Fill it up to no further than to where the water stops. If you need to do more than one batch, that's fine. Once the water comes to a boil, put a lid on top of the pot. After the wax is halfway melted, remove it from the burner and stir. Keep stirring until it's almost all the way melted and then put the lid on again and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Once you are 100% sure your wax is melted all the way through, add a fall color dye of your choice until the color is where you want it. I added pumpkin pie spice and a few drops of Cinnamon Bark essential oil to my preference. I stirred it and put the lid back on for about 3 minutes so the spice fully dissolves.

Step 4: Pouring the Wax

For this step you are going to want to make sure that your hot glue has fully dried. Using a hot pad, remove the container from the double boiler and slowly pour it into your pumpkin, trying not to get any on the sides or on the wick. Once all the wax is in your pumpkin, make a second batch if you need more to fill your pumpkin to the top. If you have left over wax, pour into the trash can after it cools or make another small candle out of a jar or old tea light candle mold. (I had to use a skewer type thing to hold up my wick because it wasn't hot glued good enough.)

Step 5: Cooling the Wax

Once all your wax is inside the pumpkin, you can either let it cool over night or stick it in the fridge for about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how big your pumpkin is. You want to make sure that the wax is cooled all the way through. I recommend letting it sit over night to be safe.

Step 6: You're Done!

After the wax is cooled, take out a lighter and light your candle, letting the sweet fall aroma fill your house. Make sure to take pictures and submit them so I can see what a great job you did if you decide to do this project!