After 25 years of being a candle wick distributor, owner Joe Blythe decided to join in on the candle making trend by opening Wick It, a studio in Robbinsville that offers two types of classes: candle making and candle art with sand art.
The candle art class option is perfect for children. It consists of a glass candle jar with a white candle in the middle surrounded by colorful sand.
There are five candle making steps. The first step is picking an apron. They have an assortment of floral, superhero, and basic color options to choose from.
Next is picking the scents from shelves of glass jars with candles inside, similar to a spice rack on a wall. The candles are labeled by numbers and scent categories (floral, fruity and earthy). Coffee beans are on the shelves to reset the nose after smelling scents.
Blythe says “The best part is not knowing what the name of the fragrance is so people can truly feel if they liked it or disliked it and not just buy the name.”
I ended up choosing two scents. One reminded me of Hawaiian fruit punch and the other reminded me of a strawberry lollipop. The actual name of the scents is a mystery until the last step.
Next step was mixing. I was given a little jar of each fragrance to mix into a glass jar with white wax.
When Wick It originally started its candle making class in 2017, patrons were only able to make white candles. Blythe and his company have since added colored options due to popular demand.
I decided to make my candle a salmon color to match the scents I chose. Three drops of red dye were added to my candle and I mixed the wax until it was incorporated.
Portable fans are used to cool the candles. This gives the customer 30 minutes to explore the variety of candles displayed throughout the store.
With 25 all-American vendors, there are mason jars candles, milk bottle candles, crystal inspired candles, aromatherapy candles and candles where the base is a coconut.
Additionally, David Bradley’s Chocolatier is a quick walk away, giving guests another way to spend their time waiting for their candles to cool.
“The best part is being able to pick your own scents out of about 100 different ones and being able to combine them.” stated, Alexandria Roman Sotomayor of Hamilton, N.J. who took a candle making class.
Reheating the candle with a heat gun is next. To make sure the wick is center the drill-shaped heat gun will give you a little arm workout for the day.
When the final cooling is happening, home-made labels in designs of flowers, hearts and leaves are used to create a name for your candle.
Kelly Worster of Freehold, N.J. who took a candle making class stated her favorite part was “Picking which scents I liked and seeing what different combinations of scent I could make with them, and using the wax melter tool gun.”
The candle making and candle sand art classes cost $26.65 including tax. Wick It is also a BYOB location.
Wick It Candle Factory is located at 92 North Main Street, Robbinsville, New Jersey. They are open Friday through Sunday from 11:00a.m. – 6:00p.m.
