There is something special about summers in my home state of Michigan. My family loves to spend time playing in our backyard, visiting one of the state’s many lakes, or sitting around the campfire at a state park. But enjoying outside time comes at a price. Michigan mosquitos are no joke! I created a set of easy mason jar citronella candles with natural citronella oil to keep us bug-free!
EASY MASON JAR CITRONELLA CANDLES
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE MASON JAR CITRONELLA CANDLES
I used LorAnn’s 100% natural citronella oil to make some super simple floating wick mason jar candles. The citronella oil is a natural way to keep mosquitoes from ruining your summer fun.
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- Mason jar
- Glass gems, stones, or sand
- Water
- Olive oil
- Citronella oil
- Floating candle wicks
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DIY FLOATING WICK CANDLES
I have made traditional wax candles before on the blog. Those candles rely on wax to slow the burn time of long cotton or wood wicks. Floating oil candles use short wicks which draw oil up through the cotton. That oil acts as the fuel for the fire, so the wick itself burns very slowly. If you have ever seen an oil lantern or a tiki torch work, you have seen this same process on a larger scale.
The floating wicks are just small discs of cork into which you insert a one-inch wick. Those cork discs float on top of the oil in your jar, allowing you to make a candle almost instantly. I found my floating wicks on Amazon, and they cost me about $10 for 50 wicks. That will give you plenty of wicks to make candles all summer long!
HOW TO MAKE BUG REPELLANT CANDLES
Technically you could make these candles in almost any kind of heat-proof vessel. Just keep in mind that the larger the surface area of the top of the liquid that you have, the more oil you will need (and the longer the candle will be able to burn).
Mason Jar Citronella Candles
- Add sand or glass gems to the jar to prevent the jar from being knocked over or blown over by the wind.
- Pour water into the jar, leaving about one inch of room at the top of the jar for the rest of the ingredients.
- Pour in enough olive oil to a depth of roughly half an inch.
The olive oil will float on the top of the water.
- Add in a 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of LorAnn citronella oil and give it a gentle stir.
The exact amount of citronella oil you use will depend on the amount of olive oil you need.
- Place a wick inside the cork disc so that no more than half an inch of wick extends below the disc.
- Place the floating wick carefully on top of the oil.
Check to make sure the bottom of the wick does not extend below the level of the oil. You want to make sure the wick is drawing oil up through the wick, not water.
The wick will use the olive and citronella oil as fuel to burn for several hours. The scent of the burning citronella oil will keep mosquitos at bay so you can enjoy your time outside. When you are finished using the candle for the day, blow out the flame and give the candle a bit of time to cool down. Then you can screw the mason jar lid back on to save the candle for another use. You can replace the floating wick as often as needed, and refill the olive and citronella oils if you use them up.
You might like these other DIYs:
PRINTABLE SUMMER SCAVENGER HUNTS
