Make Creative Wax Melts/Tarts

Many people know and love wax melts or "tarts," as some may call them. These little scented gems can be thrown in just about any tea light-heated or electric oil burner/aroma diffuser and will scent your home for hours! Although it is easy to find the "tart" shaped melts, it is a bit harder to find melts made with creativity. Since wax tarts have become so popular, it becomes more and more difficult to make your own stand out above the rest. For those who have built a business making tarts and candles, it is a challenge to come up with new and interesting ways of packaging and selling products. In such a competitive business, you have to go above and beyond the call of duty to provide a quality product to customers that also stands out from the rest. For those who make wax tarts as a hobby or make them to give away as gifts, it is fun to experiment to see what new beautiful way you can make and package your creations.

For those of you that are not familiar with tarts, they are small (usually around one ounce) molded pieces of scented wax. Many customers enjoy tarts as an alternative to candles because of their small size, cheaper price, and long lasting scent, as well as the fact that they are a unique way to scent the home. Tarts are simply made by melting your choice of wax, adding fragrance oil and color if desired, pouring it into a class tart mold, and then popping it out. After they are popped out of their molds, they are ready to use right away. You can simply put one in an oil burner or aroma diffuser to melt and diffuse the fragrance. The nice things about using tarts instead of aroma oils by themselves is that tarts do not leave that sticky residue that is almost impossible to clean off of your oil burner. Once a tart's scent is gone, you can either add more fragrance; or simply allow to cool, pop out of the oil burner, and discard. They leave virtually no residue behind, and your oil burner is ready to melt another tart!

Since wax tarts are such a popular product among candle makers and consumers alike, it pays to come up with ideas on how to be different. The following tips and directions may help get those creative juices flowing, and you can expand on these ideas and come up with wax tarts that are totally unique! When packaging your new creations, be sure to choose packaging that will let your new wax tarts show! No need to hide a work of art in an opaque box or bag. Let your tarts be seen and admired!

Tip #1--Wax Crackles

This is a great tip to use up leftover scrap wax, or to even make with fresh wax. Start by heating your wax and adding your fragrance oil and color. Pour the prepared wax in a very thin layer in a baking sheet or even a heavy plastic tray. Anything will do, as long as it is heat resistant and flat. The layer of wax should be approximately 1/4" thick when you are finished pouring. Allow your wax to cool and harden completely. When your wax is all done cooling, remove the layer of wax from your tray. The fun part is, caution against breakage is not necessary! Break that layer of wax into pieces that will fit inside of a gallon size plastic bag. Once you have your wax in the bag, grab something hard (a heavy spoon or meat tenderizer works great!), and bang the bag lightly, but hard enough to break the wax into small pieces (Ideally about an inch in diameter). The end result is wax crackles!

To package, you can put 3-4 ounces of crackles into clear gift bag, tie with a ribbon and a hang tag, and include a small scoop. Customers can scoop out their desired wax, and put it into their oil burner to melt! The packaging makes a very pretty presentation, and customers are sure to swoon. If giving away as a gift, it will definitely be a crowd pleaser.

A great variation--When making wax crackles, let your creative juices flow! Another great melt idea using this technique is to prepare two batches of wax that have complimentary scents and colors. For example, strawberry and banana go well together. Make one batch of strawberry wax crackles, and one batch of banana. Once you have broken the wax down into small pieces, you can mix equal parts of strawberry and banana scented wax together and package. This not only makes the crackles more pleasing to the eye with the red and yellow colors together, but will make a great combo scent that customers are sure to enjoy! This also works great if you have only basic fragrance oils on hand and want to make more complex scents by mixing.

Tip #2--Using Guest Size Soap Molds for Tarts

If you are tired of the same old tart shape, try using guest size melt and pour soap molds! You can find them in craft stores such as Jo-Ann Fabrics or Michaels, or they can be purchased from many companies online, and even eBay! One important thing to remember, however, is that the soap molds must make Guest Size bars. Soap molds that make full size bars of soap are way too large for tarts. Ideally, tarts should be one ounce or less so they do not overflow oil burners when they melt. Guest soap molds are the perfect size, and they are heat resistant, so no worries about your hot wax damaging them.

When purchasing your molds, you will be presented with a huge selection of shapes and styles. Be sure to choose one that reflects you and your company the best. You can choose sea shells, which are popular, but there is a whole other world with soap molds. Cartoon characters are available, as well as small little abstract shapes. Let your imagination run wild!

After you have purchased your favorite molds, prepare your wax and add fragrance and color. When wax has reached your desired pouring temperature, slowly and carefully pour your hot wax into the soap molds. Try to get as close to the top without going over. A repour may be necessary depending on the depth of your mold choice. Shallow molds may not need a repour, but deep and narrow ones may get sink holes. Use your judgement, and if the tops are not smooth enough, by all means, repour!

To package, try putting 4-5 tarts into a clear gift bag, or if the molds you choose allow, package your tarts in a shallow cardboard candy box with a clear lid. Your tarts will then look like beautiful delicacies! Finish with a ribbon and a hang tag.

Tip #3--Cookie Cutter Tarts

For this project, you will need a baking sheet that is approximately one inch deep, and some small metal cookie cutters. Plastic cookie cutters do not work well, because they have wide edges, and will smoosh the edges of your tarts. The sharper edges of metal cookie cutters will ensure a clean and smooth cut. With this tip, as with the soap mold tip, make sure the cookie cutters are small shapes. Tarts should not weigh more than one ounce each, and make sure that they will not be too wide to fit completely inside the oil burner bowl.

Start by melting your wax, and add fragrance oil and color. When your wax has reached your desired pouring temperature, slowly and steadily pour your hot wax into the baking sheet until it is approximately 1/2 to 2/4 of an inch deep. Allow wax to cool and harden completely. If the top looks uneven after cooling, you can use a heat gun or even a hair dryer to melt the top and smooth it out. For such a wide and shallow mold, do not try to repour. It will only make uneven tops worse, and wax will puddle in areas.

Once your wax has completely cooled and the top is smooth, it is time to remove from the pan. This can be done a few different ways. This wax cannot be broken, as you need it to make cookie cutter tarts, so it must be removed gently and carefully. You can try removing the entire sheet at once by gently turning the baking sheet upside down, or you can cut the wax layer into halves or quarters to make it easier.

*Note--If your wax does not come out of the mold easily at first, put it in the freezer for 5 minutes at a time until the wax pops out. Be careful not to over freeze your wax, as it will become brittle and develop freezer cracks.

If you used the freezer technique to get your wax out of the mold, be sure to allow it to warm back up to room temperature before cutting your shapes. Wax fresh from the freezer is hard, and will not cut easily. Room temperature wax makes it more pliable for cookie cutting. Once you have your wax layer out, lay it on a protected flat surface. Take your cookie cutters, and simply cut out your tarts from the slab of wax. If you have leftover wax when you are finished, it can be remelted and reused to prevent waste.

*Packaging tip--If you are using the same shape for all of your tarts, try stacking them 4-6 at a time, and tie together with ribbon or raffia, and attach a tag.

Tip #4--"Just a Dollop" Tarts

"Just a Dollop" tarts are just like they sound! Incredibly easy and very unique, Just a Dollop tarts are made by whipping wax and spooning dollops onto a baking sheet or heat resistant plastic tray to harden. Depending on the color and the spoon, they can resemble macaroons, a scoop of ice cream, and more! For this project, you will need your regular tart making wax and supplies, plus an electric hand mixer and a baking sheet or heat resistant plastic tray. As with the other tips, make sure to keep your tart size around one ounce or less.

Start by melting your wax and adding fragrance oil and color. When your wax is prepared, pour it into a heat resistant mixing bowl. Allow to cool until a thin skin (approximately 1/4 inch) forms on top. Once you have your skin, turn your blender on, and start beating your wax on the low setting and then moving to medium speed. As you beat your wax, you will notice it start to thicken up and get somewhat lumpy. Keep beating until you get a thick texture that when you spoon it up, it will hold its shape.

Now comes the tricky part. When your wax has reached the desired whipped consistency, it will have cooled down quite a bit. You will have to spoon the wax out onto your baking sheet quickly to avoid the wax in your bowl getting too hard. If this is your first time with whipped wax, start with a very small batch and practice with that until you get a feel for the cooling wax and are comfortable trying larger batches. If your wax does happen to harden on you, no biggie! Simply reheat the wax slightly until it gets soft enough to work with. You may also have to whip it a bit more after reheating.

Once all of your dollops are on your baking sheet, allow them to cool and harden completely before removing and packaging them. To package, try putting them in a shallow candy box with a clear lid. If they are small enough in diameter, another great idea is to stack a few of them up inside of a 2x6" inch bath salt tube with an attached label and directions.

*Extra fun--If you are looking for a more challenging dollop of whipped wax, embeds work great! You can press chocolate chip embeds in the tops of the dollops to make them look like chocolate chip cookies. You can even make an "Ice Cream Sundae" tart by melting a small amount of wax, coloring it brown or red, and then drizzle it over the tops of your dollops to look like chocolate or strawberry syrup. If you have cherry embeds, you can take the sundae to a whole new level!