Candle Making Craft 4u

The V-shaped ice candle

Unfortunately I don’t have a picture now, but one candle with a difference that I loved was the V-shaped ice candle.  The bottom of the V became the top of the candle when it was taken out of the mold.  I do wish I had a photo because I would love to put it up for you to see.  Start with a light colored wax at the tip and as you build the candle change to a darker color so that when you turn the candle over the darker shade is at the bottom.

One problem that you have to sort out using a V-shaped candle mould is that you need to support the mold until the wax is set.  Putting the mold into something like a cut off milk carton works well.

Don’t forget to make sure the wick is coated in wax.

If you try this let me know how you got on.  PS.  If you want to make it even more different, once you have the candle out of the mold you can dribble wax down it as well.   Looks cool!  I always used to use various shades of pink candle wax (dyed), blue or purple, but even mixing colors like green and purple look fantastic.

These candles look so cool that you can leave it as an unscented candle too because everyone will be blown away by the effect of the candle.

Make some egg shaped candles for Easter and let the kids decorate them and make a display.   Read Amy’s comments on how to make Easter egg candles.

Put some candle fragrance in the Easter egg candles and your display will make your room smell beautiful throughout the Easter period.

Easter egg candles do not take a lot of candle wax either so they are quite an economical way to occupy the children with craft hobbies.

Any small home business that sells to the public or has the public visit their premises needs to have public liability insurance.  That includes candle making businesses.

Public liability insurance is to cover accidents and also covers faulty products.  For example reasons that a candle would want coverage for:

• a candle maker may make a candle and for some reason a customer has a fire at home and proves that the candle was faulty and that is why there was a fire started
• at a stall where you were selling candles, a customer caught there foot on a trestle leg, tripped and broke a leg Read the rest of this entry »

It seems that you have either decided to start a candle making business from home or you are considering doing so.  I just love working from home and have done so for over 12 years now.  I admit I have done several small businesses in finding something that I really love doing and you may find the same thing.

I have always been a believer that you should work at something you enjoy so that when you get up in the morning you just love going to work and most of the time you are a happy person becuase you love your job.  This reflects on your relationships, business and personal, and on your family.  My stress levels sky rocket when I am not happy with my work.  For example, I have held a real estate licence and owned my own office, but I just did not enjoy that at all.  I love deal with real estate but not selling real estate. I love the challenges of it, property investing, renovating and Read the rest of this entry »

So that a candle has a good burn right through it is important that the wick is straight but that does not happen on its own so you need to take precautions that the wick does stay straight when you have made your candle.  Wind the wick around the stick and it will hold firm.

Here are several items that you can use to secure the wick at the top of the mold:

• on a smaller mold, an ice block stick
• a chop stick
• a pencil with flat sides – a builders pencil Read the rest of this entry »

Now that Valentine’s Day is over we can focus on Easter candle making projects.

How did your Valentine’s Day candles go?  I hope you had a lovely day!

There is no surprise that when it comes to Easter we think of eggs!  Of course we do.  So how can you make Easter candles?

Personally I feel that the best way is to buy an egg mold and make your candle that way.

I know several people who like to mold their egg candles and they do this by making a layer of melted wax in tray first and when the wax is still a little soft they hand mold it into an egg shape then push their wick through.

Decorating your egg candles Read the rest of this entry »

Outdoor craft shows are one of the easiest ways to sell your homemade candles.  If you have a home candle making businesss you might find craft shows an easy way to expose your products to the public.  These shows are usually reasonably easy to book into and they offer first hand contact with your customers.  It is a thrill to sell your products straight to the client and you can get terrific feed back from them as well about your candle making craft and what they would like to buy, but can’t. By talking to customers you get firsts hand information about what is lacking in the market place but do be careful not to make a range that only one customer might buy.  If you get several customers asking for the same thing it may be worth trying some out to see if they sell. Read the rest of this entry »

MAKING MARBLE CANDLES

These can be made with store bought candles and can be so much fun and simple to do.

The idea of this is to end up with a candle that has a marblized finish.  You can make your own plain colored candles or you can simply buy some and start with that.

The basics of this is that you are dipping a one color candle (usually white for best effect) into water that has candle dye floating on top.  Different effects will be achieved depending on your dipping method – straight up and down, twirling around etc.

Here is how to make marble candles: Read the rest of this entry »

When you are making candles one point to remember is to trim the wicks correctly.  Keep candle wicks trimmed to 1/4″ and not less but not over 1/2″ or the canadle will smoke.

If you are having trouble with your candles smoking it is probablybecause the wicks are too long.

People think that keeping a long wick will give a higher flame, and this is true to a certain extent, but the do not realise that it does cause the candle to smoke and also the candle does not really burn as well.

Sometimes candles do smoke if they are caught in a wind, but again this is usually only if the wick is too long.

Interesting articles from the web

• Keep Spent Candles In Your Sock Drawer (apartmenttherapy.com)
• Letter Re: Building a Supply of Long-Burning Candles (survivalblog.com)

Treat your man on Valentine’s Day to a romantic evening with mood creating red shot glass candles made especially by you.  This is not a difficult project so here are the steps:

1.   Search around and find yourself some red candles – one 10” taper candle will do 3 shot glasses.

2.   Buy some wicks from a craft shop.

3.   If you do not have any shot glasses buy some from a shop – possibly your local liquor store would have some or a Bar retail shop.

4.   Break the candles into a metal jug.

5.  Place the slow cooker on a paper covered area (in case of splashes).  Put 1 ½” of boiling water in the bottom of the cooker and turn it on to 3.

6.  Stand the metal jug inside a slow cooker.  Put the lid on.  This will melt the wax and it cannot get overly hot because the water temperature can only reach 212°F.  When the wax is melted turn the cooker off and remove the jug.  It will be hot so use something to protect hands.  Cotton gloves or a cotton cloth should do the trick.

If you want to add a little candle making fragrance, add it before removing from the heat and stir in with the wire whisk.

(If you have not been able to get red candles you could at this stage add some red candle dye and carefully mix it in with a wire whisk.  Candle dye can be purchased from a craft shop or candle supply shop.)

7.  Have your shot glasses sitting on some layers of paper to catch spills and pour the wax into the glasses about ½” from the top.

8.  Measure your wicks and cut them so that they come about ½” above the wax.  As the wax is setting push the wick into the wax and make sure it stands up straight.

9.  When the wax is completely set trim the wick to about ¼” above the wax.

Melting wax in a slow cooker is a slower way of doing it than over a double boiler but it is one of the safest methods for someone who has not made candles before.  As a safety precaution it pays to have a chemical fire extinguisher on hand when melting wax and a wax thermometer.  Wax is a flammable product and this is why a slow cooker is so good because the temperature cannot rise too high.  But with wax there is always an unknown so that is why safety precautions should be taken

Enjoy your romantic evening!  

But hey, remember this same idea could be done with any colored candle and is a lovely way to dress up a dinner table, spa room or what ever you choose.