Beeswax Candle Making – A Great Project with Your Kids
Monday, March 15th, 2010Making Beeswax Candle Tips – Candles with the Kids
The warm illuminating glow it emits. That sweet and pleasant smell as the candle glimmers. Sigh! Many are surprised at how enjoyable producing beeswax candles could be!
Making beeswax candles is a great “hands on” project for the kids. In this activity, the younger ones will have nothing to do at all a burning stove or even scorchingly-hot wax. You won’t need to worry about obtaining the necessary materials or long hours of cleaning up with a beeswax candle making project.
Making Beeswax Candles Tips - Items that You Do Need
- 8 inch by 16 inch sheets of beeswax
- Primed wick sliced for a one inch candle
- A small paring knife from your kitchen
- Flat open surface
- Lay out your sheet of beeswax
- Slice wick approximately 3/4 inches longer than wax sheet (allowing excess on both sides of candle)
Leaving available wick at each ends allows you the choice to decide which side of the candle you prefer as the top and which side the bottom.
After laying the wick on the sheet’s edge, fold over an eighth of an inch of wax before you start rolling it. This seam will enclose the wick securely. Pushing firmly from left to right continue to roll the beeswax forward around the wick with your fingertips, making sure the beeswax is wrapped tight and straight as you go. This is probably the most difficult step thorughout the process of making candles.
Another option would be flipping the wax then folding it down to form a seam—about 1/8 inches—with a counter corner or perhaps a cutting board. Whichever way works as long as you end up with a flawless seam.
As you make your candle, at some point in time you must decide how thick of a candle you desire. To increase the candle’s thickness, use more beeswax. Do this by putting the additional sheet edge to edge with the original and melding the pieces together with your thumb. When rolling the beeswax, make sure you do so in a straight line and continue until the very end.
When you get to the end, gently push the edges of the beeswax down with your thumbs.Imagine forming a seam as you continue with the rest of your candle.
Choosing what you consider the best end of the candle for the top, trim the wick 1/2 above the wax. Remember to take the residual parts of your wick from the end.
Although the younger ones might not find these parts enjoyable, you and other parents certainly would. So no more dilly-dallying—light up your candle and enjoy the amazing feeling of completion as you gaze upon the result of your hard work! And as for your little ones? The end result — candles that your kids can proudly call their own!
As you work on beeswax candles, do remember that the art of candlemaking is almost as old as time. In the beginning the purpose was to create light…something you can’t forget during such moments. But at present, a lot of people simply take up candlemaking for recreational purposes. Or it can be for a variety of reasons. As cited earlier on, a lot of people look upon this project as a recreational pursuit. Sometimes however, it is for giving as a gift on special occasions. A craft project like wax candle making is considered kid-friendly by most parents. Last but not the least is the profit you’ll get. There are also people who make candles for a living.
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