Like yoga or baking, making candles has become a kind of stress relief for me. I’ve made dozens of scents over the past four years, and the hobby helped me bounce back from burnout, as I tested new fragrance blends, vessels and soy waxes.

Buying all the supplies and testing out candles out can be costly—especially if this is just an occasional craft project—so if you’re getting started, I highly recommend trying an all-in-one candle-making kit before buying pounds of products. Through trial and error, I’ve tested a bunch, and there are a few I’ve found are truly worth the spend. So, *drumroll please,* here are the best candle making kits I’ve tested in 2024.

1. Banter & Bliss Candle Co. Minimalist & Modern Candlemaking Kit

Best Overall Candle Making Kit

• Type of Wax Included: Coconut Soy Wax
• Number of Candles It Makes: 4 candles (7 oz. each)
• Shipping Cost: $7

This kit is an incredible value. For just $42, you have just about everything you need to make four 7-ounce candles. (That’s like TJ Maxx candle prices!) You could actually use this set to invite a few friends over and host your own candle making party. The only things missing are a pouring pitcher and thermometer, which are a solid investment if you think you’ll make more candles down the road, and you can tack them on for an extra $19.

The coconut-soy wax blend holds fragrances easily, and you can customize your kit to include any one of the two-scent combos (Blue Volcano fans will want to check out the Sugared Mango & Grapefruit Mangosteen duo!), as well as your preferred candle color (if white feels too plain for your tastes) and jar color.

2. Paddywax Candle-Making Kit

Best Scents & Aesthetic

• Type of Wax Included: Soy Wax Blend
• Number of Candles It Makes: 1 candle (12 oz.)
• Shipping Cost: Free

Want a kit that already comes with a digital thermometer? This kit has you covered, along with a wick, wick sticker, and just enough wax and fragrance oil to fill one (very on-trend) 12-ounce bubble glass jar. You can choose from one of four scents, though I’m partial to Pacific Moss & Mist. It’s beachy without being over-the-top sea salt and coconuts.

The instructions are pretty easy to follow, though I used my pour pitcher to create the double boiler, rather than pour the wax into a bowl and place that over a pot of boiling water. (I don’t recommend making candles in bowls you’ll later cook and eat out of.) The resulting candle has a great hot throw, easily filling a bathroom or bedroom, and it looks professional. It does have some tunneling, suggesting the wick isn’t big enough for the vessel, but otherwise, it’s great.

NOTE: It seems Paddywax is phasing out these kits, though you can still find them on Amazon and in select HomeGoods and Barnes & Noble stores (for now).

3. Siblings No. 13 Candle Set

Best for Total Newbies (and Eco-Conscious Shoppers)

• Type of Wax Included: Coconut Blend Wax
• Number of Candles It Makes: 1 candle (12 oz.)
• Shipping Cost: Free shipping on orders $60+

Siblings makes one of my favorite candle scents of all time—No. 13, a cozy blend of palo santo, marshmallow cream and burnt sugar—but they have several others to choose from, if that’s not your style. All of their kits are low-effort, low-mess: You simply tear open the bag, pull out the wick, candle care label, wick holder and instructions, then pop the bag of fragranced wax in the microwave. As it melts, you put the wick into a heat-safe vessel of your choosing (or you can buy their reusable Forever Vessels), using the included popsicle stick with a hole in the center to keep the wick in place.

Once melted, you pour the wax into the vessel and wait for it to cure, or firm up. That’s it.

4. Makesy Candle Makers Starter Kit

Best for Aspiring Entrepreneurs and Serious Crafters

• Type of Wax Included: Soy Wax
• Number of Candles It Makes: 2 candles (9 oz. each)
• Shipping Cost: $11

If you’ve seen Makesy on Instagram or YouTube, their aesthetics probably got to you. The brand’s marketing is top notch, drawing you in with their gorgeous packaging and materials. But it can be intimidating to just start ordering pounds of wax and everything else from them—plus, it adds up fast. That’s why this Starter Kit is so awesome—it’s packed with the essentials to get you started, all housed in a large pouring pitcher you can reuse afterward.

The kit comes with everything you need to make two nine-ounce, wooden wick candles in sleek matte black and gold metal tins (which look so much chicer than “metal” might suggest). And it features one of their most popular fragrances, Vanilla Gelato & Waffle Cone. The scent is a bit milder than the other kits, and there’s been some tunneling with the wax, but all in all, it makes gorgeous candles that will have you dreaming of opening your own Etsy shop. Or maybe that’s just me.

I purchased my kit from Michaels, but it seems they’ve been discontinued there, though you can still buy them at Hobby Lobby.

What Else Do You Need to Make Candles?

Ready to get more involved with your candle making? I suggest following Tiana Coats, Memory Box Candle Co. and Standley Handcrafted on YouTube, and perhaps investing in the following extras:

• Pouring pitcher, $20, Amazon — This one holds up to 4 pounds of wax, so you can make larger batches of candles at a time. (I have a 1-pound pitcher, and it gets tedious refilling it to make more than one candle at a time.)
• Meat/candy digital thermometer, $7.50, Amazon — A candy thermometer works well for checking to see if your wax is the right temperature to add in fragrance oil, and a digital one will give you a read much faster than the traditional kind.

FAQ: Is It Cheaper to Make Candles Than Buy Them?

Yes—with a caveat. The cost per candle tends to be cheaper, especially if you’re buying ingredients in bulk, but you have to factor in the initial costs of the supplies you’ll need, and if you delve beyond using a kit into creating your own blends, the cost of testing those blends to find your signature recipe (or ratios of wax, fragrance oil and the right wick/vessel for them).

Pin This Story for Later:

This post originally ran in March 2023, but has since been updated as new kits have been tested, and to ensure all links are working and the information provided remains accurate.