PROJECT 9: Candle Making

For those of you who were certain I had abandoned my blog...doubt me no more...I was just taking a holiday break!

Actually, the craft of candle making could not have come at a better time. I needed gifts and these seemed like the perfect solution. Thus, I am just now publishing my post on candle making, as I waited to post so that the recipients would be surprised. I am happy to report that they were both surprised and pleased.

First of all, candle making is two things: 1.)messy and 2.) expensive! I had thought I would go to a craft store, find some beautiful natural beeswax and colorant and make inexpensive yet organic gifts. Unfortunately I was wrong. Natural beeswax was just out of my price range. For enough wax to maybe make one candle, it was $18 at Michaels! Now I understand why one small beeswax candle can run almost $20 at a boutique. So alas, instead of beeswax I bought a block of parafain wax and melted down one of my old plain white candles. (This worked fine but the candles did not have that natural, organic feel I was hoping for).

I covered my kitchen counter with newspaper and used an old pot to melt the wax down. You cannot put wax directly on a burner so I had another pot beneath it with boiling water. This worked great except that I ended up ruining the good bottom pot. Somehow bits of wax were sneaking their way from the top pot to the bottom pot and once wax melts in a pot its pretty much impossible to remove. So my poor pot was a casualty of this endeavor. (Not to mention a knife I needed to use to cut the wax before I melted it.)

I had planned on getting molds but again, those were too expensive. Instead I poured the wax into containers. I made four tea cup candles from tea cups I had that we never used and I used jars for the others. I also finally used those old candle holders I had laying around that I had burnt up the wax for a long time ago.

I chose not to use scents as the candles were gifts and I did not feel comftorable choosing a scent I didnt know would sit well with the person. (I think I am scarred from once getting my sister a vanilla scented present and having her nearly throw up from the smell). I did not use color for the tea cup candles as I thought white went well with the cup. I did use color with the jarred candles though, mixing colorant to make the exact color I was looking for.

The process was fun and rewarding as I was very pleased with the outcome. I do have to say however that if felt a little silly to melt wax only to pour it into a container and have it harden again.

So while the candles did not turn out as fancy or organic as I had hoped, I think they made perfect gifts. I followed Ms. Stewart's suggestion and wrapped match boxes in a pretty paper I had and that was just perfect for the finishing touch. I know the recipients are enjoying them too. In fact just today one of them called me to tell me that the candle had become her favorite because of how big the flame is...which could be good or bad I suppose...just be careful!