Now that I finally have the wicks to do my candles, I decided to make some yesterday afternoon. I wanted to make some votives and a pillar.
I prepped my votive and pillar molds,making sure that I had candle sealer over the holes in the bottom of the molds.
I melted my wax,then added the Pumpkin Spice scent. I added quite a few drops-I like a nice,strong scent.Then I added the orange liquid coloring.When I poured my first votive,the color was more yellow than I wanted,so I added more coloring to the batch. This time the color was a darker orange,which I liked. Great!
I poured the wax into the pillar mold.
All of a sudden,wax started coming out of the bottom of the mold! It got all over my stove,so I grabbed a bowl and put the mold in it. In the process of doing that,wax got on my counter and my floor.
Then My Dear Friend Michelle called. She was down at our mutual friend Shelley's house,and they were making rolled candles for a project for Cub Scouts. Michelle had ordered me a square silicone pan for a soap mold,and she had it with her. Would it be OK for her to drop it off?
I looked around my house. I had wax puddles,remodeling tools on the table,tools on the floor,stuff everywhere,and a dirty floor to boot! (At least I had dusted and swept-drywall dust,no matter how much the hall was blocked off,was everywhere.) In other words,my house was a wreak. However, I said,"Sure,just don't mind my messy house."
I usually don't like to have people at the house unless it's neat and tidy. I am trying to get over that. People come to see us,not to critique my home. However, I knew Michelle would understand. Her and her hubby have done the interior work on their home,and she knows what that entails. Plus,my house is a HOME. It is not a museum. There are days when it's disgusting,and then there are days when you could eat off the floor.Yesterday was not a off-the-floor-eating day,however!
After Michelle left, I got all the wax back into the melting pot,remelted it,added extra mold sealer to the pillar mold,and tried again.
Same thing happened.
Damn!
So I gathered up the wax and put it back in the melting pot again.It's ready to remelt when I need it. I am done with pillar molds. I will stick to mason jars. You put the wick in,fill them up,and it's a gift. My votives did come out great,though. Now I need to make my McIntosh Apple as well as Cinnamon candles.
I can't wait to try my new soap mold!!!Thanks, Michelle!
Showing posts with label candlemaking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label candlemaking. Show all posts
Friday, November 20, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Beeswax Candles
I make candles,though not as often as I should. I usually make them as gifts for the holidays. Rick is always asking me how come I don't make candles or soap for us. That's a good question. I suppose it's like the cobbler whose children went barefoot.
While the wax was melting,we prepared the molds. There is a candle release that you can buy to coat the molds with to avoid sticking. We didn't have any of that,but we used vegetable spray,which is just as effective. As you can tell by the picture,the yellow holders and the metal ones are different. The tops of the yellow molds make the bottoms of the candles. We took the wick and pulled it through the hole in the bottom of the mold,then pressed a small piece of mold sealer over the hole and wick so the wax wouldn't leak out. In the metal holders,we used toothpicks to wrap around the wicks to hold the wick steady and centered. I have also used mold sealer to seat the metal piece of the wick in the bottom of the mold in the past.
Once the candles start to cool,a small depression will start to form. Poke a hole in the depression,and add more wax. You may have to do this a few times until the wax no longer forms a depression when it cools.
I have used beeswax in the past for candles,and have found the beeswax to be hard to remove from the mold. I was hoping since we used the vegetable spray it would make removal easier, but that was not the case. It took Rick pounding the molds against the counter many times and with great force to get the candles out. Next time I use beeswax I think I will stick with my method of pouring the wax into a canning jar and using that as the mold and candle holder. You don't need to take it out of the jar,just burn it as it is. I tied raffia around the jar for decoration.
Here is our finished product. I thought the scent of the beeswax over powered the spice scent we added,but Rick said the spice scent came through well. Don't you love my teacup saucer candle holder? I used it for photo purposes. :)
So,Rick and I decided that we would start burning more candles and kerosene/paraffin lamps in the evenings,instead of using just using electrical lights. The idea is to help save on our electric bill, which skyrockets in the winter months. I am not sure why that this,though. We use a wood stove and rarely use our oil furnace. I do have an electric oil heater that looks like a radiator that we use in our bedroom ( since we have no heat in there),but it really shouldn't push the bill up that much. ( I know NH has if not the highest, then certainly one of the highest, electrical rates in the country).
I will have to balance both electrical light and candlelight since I suffer from depression and it is worse in the winter time. ( My dear friend,Michelle,voiced concern over just using candles in the winter time because of my depression,and she has a very valid point).Rick has also recently been diagnosed with having moderate depression as well. So,we will have to keep an eye on our moods and cut back on the candles if it's causing our moods to plummet. We do love candlelight though. It tends to make the house cozy,especially in the wintertime.
I will have to balance both electrical light and candlelight since I suffer from depression and it is worse in the winter time. ( My dear friend,Michelle,voiced concern over just using candles in the winter time because of my depression,and she has a very valid point).Rick has also recently been diagnosed with having moderate depression as well. So,we will have to keep an eye on our moods and cut back on the candles if it's causing our moods to plummet. We do love candlelight though. It tends to make the house cozy,especially in the wintertime.
The other day,Rick wanted to make some candles to get started on our stock for the winter, so we made some beeswax candles.
I had some left over yellow beeswax and a new package of white beeswax and some paraffin blocks. Rick wanted to make beeswax,and that was fine with me. You can see the packages in the left corner of the picture. We used plastic and metal votive molds,wicks,a candle thermometer,candle melting/pouring pot,and spice scent.
We used last of the yellow beeswax and about a quarter of the white beeswax (they come in 1 lb blocks). The picture is a bit dark,but you can see the wax starting to melt. The wax should be at 141 degrees melting point. When the wax reached that temperature,that meant it was ready to pour in the molds. Right before we poured,we put in a small piece of spice candle scent and mixed it until it melted.
While the wax was melting,we prepared the molds. There is a candle release that you can buy to coat the molds with to avoid sticking. We didn't have any of that,but we used vegetable spray,which is just as effective. As you can tell by the picture,the yellow holders and the metal ones are different. The tops of the yellow molds make the bottoms of the candles. We took the wick and pulled it through the hole in the bottom of the mold,then pressed a small piece of mold sealer over the hole and wick so the wax wouldn't leak out. In the metal holders,we used toothpicks to wrap around the wicks to hold the wick steady and centered. I have also used mold sealer to seat the metal piece of the wick in the bottom of the mold in the past.
Once the candles start to cool,a small depression will start to form. Poke a hole in the depression,and add more wax. You may have to do this a few times until the wax no longer forms a depression when it cools.
I have used beeswax in the past for candles,and have found the beeswax to be hard to remove from the mold. I was hoping since we used the vegetable spray it would make removal easier, but that was not the case. It took Rick pounding the molds against the counter many times and with great force to get the candles out. Next time I use beeswax I think I will stick with my method of pouring the wax into a canning jar and using that as the mold and candle holder. You don't need to take it out of the jar,just burn it as it is. I tied raffia around the jar for decoration.
Here is our finished product. I thought the scent of the beeswax over powered the spice scent we added,but Rick said the spice scent came through well. Don't you love my teacup saucer candle holder? I used it for photo purposes. :)
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