Quilt Patchwork Patterns

An Easy Candle Making Craft

Craft projects can be great family fun. Candle making crafts are a particularly good choice. If you’d like to try your hand on a wax project, here’s a good one I found at: candle making crafts

The ingredients required are: pine cones, wick or a cotton string, and wax.

Gathering the pinecones will get you outdoors in nature. Pine trees are easy to find once you start looking.

This is an excellent project to use any spare bits of wax you have left over from other projects or from the stubs of used candles. I recommend using paraffin wax for this project. Soy wax is likely to be too soft and sticky at room temperature to be successful in this application. I consider beeswax too precious to use for for this project. If I had any left over beeswax, I’d save it until I had enough to make another beeswax candle.

Once you’ve collected the materials, the project is pretty straightforward. The process is very similar to making dipped candles, only you dip the whole pine cone not just the string.

Prepare the cones by wrapping some string around them. Work it in between the segments of the cone. You can use candle wick, but this project doesn’t offer anything that fancy.

Melt the wax you’ve collected to about 180°. For safety’s sake, [use a double boiler.

When the wax is that temperature, remove it from the heat and begin dipping the pine cones. It usually works best if you prepare the pine cones before you start, then dip them each once. After the initial dipping, you can let the wax cool slightly then dip each pinecone multiple times until a nice layer of wax as build up on the segments.

Let the wax harden, then trim the string and the fire starter is finished.

Some people want their fire starters to be a little special. If you like, you can use dye to color them or fragrance to add scent.

To find more details on other candle crafts, click here.  And I highly recommend that you follow this link to learn about a complete guide to home candle making.

Have fun with this hobby.

Candle Making Crafts for Beginners

Candles are a great addition to any home. Of course the glow of candle light is charming, but candles can also be attractive even when they’re not lit.  I’ve found some  ideas for ways to decorate candles at Candle Making Crafts. Here’s a project you can use to turn plain votive candles into decorative items.

This project has several things to recommend it. One good point is that it is highly adaptable. By changing the type of decorations you use you can create candles appropriate for any season or occasion.

Another good point is that it is inexpensive. The raw material is canning jars and votive candles. Even if you buy new canning jars, they’re inexpensive. Better yet, you probably have some jars at home that you can use for free.

Commercially sold jam often comes in very attractive jars that you can use for this project. You can also find jars for next to nothing at flea markets and yard sales.

You’ll find inexpensive plain votive candles and glass holders for them at discount stores.

The basic idea with this project is to partially fill the canning jar with decorative material and then placing a votive candle on top of the decorations. The outside of the canning jar can be a decorated as well. Here are some ideas, you could glue on decorations, use paint to create patterns or simply wrap it with a bow.

Any number of materials can be used to fill the bottom of the canning jar. Some ideas include sand, marbles, hard candy, potpourri, river stones, polished coins…. In addition to being attractive, it adds a pleasant aroma as well.

If you use flammable material in the bottom of the canning jar, it is essential that the votive is inside its own glass holder. Do not use a votive candle or a tea candle without a glass holder.

It is a good idea to not let the decorative material come up above the bottom of the votive holder and to extinguish the candle before it burns completely to the bottom. And as always, never leave the room with a candle burning.

As you’ve noticed, this project uses premade candles. I suspect you’ll probably want to craft your own candles sooner rather than later. A good place to get basic instructions is: How to Make Your Own Candles. Not only will you find great instructions right on that page but you can sign up for a free candle making mini course that’s very informative and helpful.

And if your wondering what equipment might be involved in the hobby of candle making, you’ll find answers at Candle Making Equipment.

I’m sure you’ll find candle making to be a fun and rewarding hobby. I encourage you to give it a try.

Candle Making Wax…Basic Characteristics

Candle making has grown tremendously in the past few decades and this exponential growth has led to the further improvement in quality, availability and sheer diversity of wax, which as we all know, is one of the main ingredients of candle making. From the dawn of time, candles have been made from a variety of waxy materials and today, wax is derived from two major sources - natural sources like vegetable, insects and animals, and artificially manufactured materials like paraffin and gel.

Paraffin wax is one of the most abundant wax used to make candles today. It is manufactured or refined from petroluem. The vast majority of candles made today are made with paraffin wax because it is cheap and available everywhere. In various parts of the world, plant materials like soybeans and palm oil are extensively used also to make candle wax. Natural candle wax are refined from such vegetable materials like soybeans which is extensively produced in the United States. Soy wax is rapidly growing in popularity as it is a renewable resource, readily available, inexpensive and also eco-friendly.

Palm wax is another natural wax used in making candles which is also rapidly growing in popularity among candle lovers. Palm wax is a natural and renewable resource which is refined or extracted from palm trees. Unfortunately, due to the growing popularity of palm wax and palm oil, some of these countries are busy clearing out enormous stretches of rainforest and replacing matured trees with palm plantations.

This unfortunate destruction of virgin woodlands has contributed significantly to the global warming phenomenon affecting every part of planet earth today. Tens of thousands of endangered animal species has also been displaced by this wanton destruction of their natural habitats. Damaging our ecosystem in this irresponsible way is such a massive price to pay for the growing popularity of palm produce.

Candles have been made in many parts of the world from animal materials down the ages. The Egyptians have been known to make candles from beeswax as early as 3000 BC, while the Chinese made theirs from the fat of whales between 221 and 206 BC during the Qin Dynasty. Candles made from natural beeswax is available in different colors and it is quite popular among candle makers. Although more expensive than paraffin wax or palm wax, candle entrepreneurs are drawn to beeswax because of its natural fragrance and its burning quality.

A new kind of material people are using to make candles now is Gel. Gel candles are clear and have a rubbery texture but it works much the same way as candles made from any other kind of wax. Gel wax comes in three different flavors – low, medium and high densities. The type of candle you want to make and the amount of scent you want to add will dictate the gel density you need to use. Low density gel works best for candles that contain 0-3% scent, and it is poured at low temperatures. Medium density gel is probably the most popular gel for making gel candles and it is best with candles that contain 3-5% of fragrance. High density gel wax requires to be poured at much higher temperatures than the other two and is better for candles that contain a heavier percentage of fragrance.

Candle makers now-a-days are spoilt for choice considering the bewildering array of wax available on the market for the candle making craft. You can pick and choose the type of wax that works best for you and the type of candle you are planning to make. A complete understanding of the characteristics and quality of the different types of wax will allow every budding candle entrepreneur to use each one to its fullest potential in crafting the candle of their dreams.