Soy candle making is a great hobby that can be rewarding, both spiritually and financially. If you like creating things and want to get into a hobby that unleashes your artistic side and provides a way to earn an income at the same time, then candle making may be your thing.

If you're just starting out with soy candle making, I suggest starting small. You can go out and spend a fortune on wax, scents, and dies, but I would suggest just getting a small starter kit and try it out to see how you like it. Your local craft store will probably have starter kits, and you can order them online from most candle making supply retailers. Once you've decided that you love soy candle making (and you probably will), then go ahead and invest more into your new hobby.

Now you may be wondering why I'm recommending soy candle making instead of just plain old candle making. I highly suggest soy wax over paraffin wax for a few very good reasons. First, it's better for the environment. Paraffin is made from petroleum, which when burned, emits greenhouse gases that are harmful to the environment and your health. Soy wax is made from soy beans which are grown right here in the United States. It burns cleaner and reduces our dependency on foreign oil.

Soy wax is also easier to work with. Paraffin wax comes in blocks. Soy wax comes in a flake form so you can just measure the amount you need. Cleaning up paraffin wax can be a chore. Soy wax cleans up with soap and water!

Once you've mastered the art of soy candle making, you can now think about whether or not you want to turn your hobby into a business. Before getting to that, start giving friends and family members some of your candles for gifts, and ask them to provide some constructive feedback on them. Did they like the scents? Were they strong enough? Did they burn evenly? Figure out what your starting product line will be based on people's favorite scents.

Once you have your product line established, start selling your candles at local craft fairs and flea markets. These are great places to start since they generally do not cost much to open a booth. From there, you may think about setting up a website, selling on ebay, or find local retailers that may want to sell your candles in their stores.

This is obviously just an overview on how to get started with soy candle making as a hobby and turning it into a business. I could go into much greater detail, but I'll leave that to future posts in my soy candle making blog. I hope you now have a better idea of how to start a new soy candle making hobby and make a few bucks doing something you'll love!