Halloween Pumpkin Candle Mold – 2-Part DIY

Jack-o'-Lantern Pumpkin Candle Mold

A rigid two-part mold for casting a carved jack-o'-lantern candle in wax — grinning face, ribbed sides, the whole thing. No silicone needed: print two halves in PLA, band them together, pour wax through the hole in the top and open the mold a few hours later. When the candle burns down a little, the face starts to glow from the inside.

What you'll need

• Soy wax (I added a little paraffin) and any wax colorant of your choice

• A waxed wick with a metal tab, plus double-sided tape and a small piece of regular tape

• 2 rubber bands

• Petroleum jelly as a release agent

• A double boiler and a pouring pitcher

The pumpkin is 88 × 88 × 66 mm and takes about 278 ml / 250 g of wax. Melt noticeably more: wax shrinks as it cools and needs a top-up, and a second batch rarely matches the color of the first.

How to cast

1. Coat both cavities with a thin layer of petroleum jelly. Don't skip it — wax grips bare PLA.

2. Press the halves together and put two rubber bands into the channels.

3. Stick the wick tab to double-sided tape, drop it through the pour hole to the bottom, pull the wick straight up and tape the top end to the mold.

4. Melt all your wax in one batch, add the colorant and pour slowly until the cavity is full.

5. After 10–15 minutes a dip forms around the wick — top it up from the same batch.

6. Leave it 30 minutes at room temperature, then 2 hours in the fridge.

7. Take off the bands, pull the halves apart and trim the wick. Clean the thin seam line with a knife or a hair dryer if you like.

Print settings

• Material: PLA

• Layer height: 0.2 mm

• Walls: 2

• Infill: 15%

• Supports: none

• Print time: ~15 h for both halves on one plate

PLA handled the hot wax with no problems.

How the mold was made

You can design a mold like this in any CAD program if you're willing to spend some time on it. I made it with 3DGEN — it builds a two-part mold from any STL in a few seconds, right in the browser, no CAD needed.

Happy Halloween! Share your cast in the makes — I'd love to see your colors.