Want to make candles yourself, but confused about how to start? A long-time crafts enthusiast, Nicki Archer shares her candle making experience and knowledge with you in her free beginner candle making e-course. Learn at home with her on-site easy-to-read e-book, Secrets to Creative Candlemaking., with bonus e-books. You will soon be making gorgeous candles for yourself and your family.
Looking for a way to keep the kids busy on a rainy day, and also find a use for those broken crayons that they never use any more? Here's a fun project to keep them - and yourself - occupied and also have a really unique and neat end product that won't just collect dust. Yes, I'm talking about showing your children how to make colorful wax candles.
You need to get some items together before you can do this, so plan it now for the next rainy Saturday when you just know the kids will want something new and different to do inside. You will need a few items from your kitchen, a block of candle wax from the craft store and a bunch of broken crayons. You will also need some lengths of wick - the craft store will have them. Don't try to substitute a piece of string, as it just won't burn well, and you do want your project to be a success.
So here's how you do it. First of all, cover your working surface with layers of newspaper so cleanup will be simple. Then, fill a large pan about half full of water and heat it. Place a second pan, or a tall can containing some of the wax into it, but support it so it stays upright. If you have a double boiler, you could also use that. You must melt the wax over hot water, since melting it directly over heat can be a fire hazard. If wax gets too hot, it can catch fire, or even erupt.
When the wax has melted, put a few candle pieces in - keep to one color so you don't get muddy colored candles. Allow these to melt and add color the wax. Stir it gently with a stick or wooden spoon (one you don't use) so the color is even throughout. When the color has spread throughout the wax, you can start making dipped candles.
Cut a length of wick about 3 inches longer than the depth of your liquid wax. Hold one end with a pair of pliers, a wooden clothes pin, or some other item, so your fingers are not close to the hot wax. Dip the wick into the wax slowly, and lift it straight out. Let it cool about 30 seconds, and repeat. Do these steps until your candle is as fat as you want.
Hold it up, or find a way to hang it to cool, and when it is completely cool and hard, trim the wick to about 1/4 of an inch. Flatten the bottom of the candle by trimming it with a sharp knife, and then pressing it for a moment on a hot surface, such as a frying pan.
You can melt several different colors of wax and crayons in separate cans, and make multi colored candles by dipping the wick into the various colored waxes. You, and the children, can make some really wonderful and unique candles with this easy method. Enjoy them!
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