Preserve a beloved bouquet. Make a gel candle with dried flowers

Gel wax burns as well as classic paraffin candles but with the bonus of being clear enough to see through. This makes it the perfect material for creating candles with tiny treasures inside. Want to preserve a bouquet from a special occasion? Hang the flowers upside down to dry, snip off the dried blooms and incorporate them into this project.

Dried flowers look beautiful suspended in gel wax, and to create a floral fragrance, consider including a few drops of rose candle scent in the wax while it's in the melting pot. Just be sure to choose a candle scent that's compatible with gel wax, which burns a bit differently than paraffin wax.

Materials
- Small jar with a canning lid
- Twine
- High temp glue gun
- Scissors
- Dried flowers, three kinds
- Wick with a zinc base
- Centering device
- Melting pot
- Gelly Wax
- Stove or hot plate

Instructions
1. Remove the flat disc from the canning lid of a small jar. Screw the outer band back onto the jar.

2. Attach twine all the way around the outer band with a high temp glue gun until it's covered. Trim the end of the twine.

3. Place a few pinches of dried flowers into the jar.

4. Put the wick in the jar. Use a centering device to hold the wick in place.

5. Fill the bottom of a melting pot with Gelly Wax. Warm the wax on medium heat until it's melted.

6. Pour the melted wax into the jar, filling it to at least the bottom of the outer band. The flowers will naturally float up and spread through the wax.

7. After the wax has set, remove the centering device and trim the wick.

8. Tie a small bow with the twine and glue it to the outer band.