Candle Dipping

What fun! While toddler napped, we girls made candles!

Here’s how: We melted shaved slivers of candle wax and bee’s wax in a glass quart jar (double boiler or large metal juice can would be safest!) that was half submerged in my large kettle of boiling water. After melting, we let the temp cool to 150F, added scented color and started dipping our cotton-like wicks! In and out of hot wax, then in and out of cool water…over and over. Plus, rolling the warm candle-in-progress on wax paper occasionally for a uniform result. We ended up with several tapers, and several of those shaker-style hanging candles.

We had three wicks that were affixed to a small metal base and these we tacked with hot glue to the bottom middle of emptied/cleaned cream cartons. So we’ll have some pretty square candles once the wax sets and we peel off the carton!

Tips: It’s important to add some slivered bee’s wax to your candle wax so that the finished product will burn more evenly and last longer…and if you do the square candles make sure your wick is centered and straight…we had to anchor ours by wrapping the extra wick around a pencil and fastening with tape. Tomorrow, when we peel away the carton, we’ll cut the wick to the right length.

And lest you think I’m terribly clever…my homeschooling friend Kim passed her “know-how” on candle making my way! This was the last of our pioneer projects for the year…we’ve locker-hooked (like rag rug making), made soap, made mozzarella & ricotta, homemade root beer, willow brooms, quill pens/ink, fishing poles, nine-patch pillows, and more…

Quick update, my daughter and her Border Collie won Reserve Champion in dog obedience yesterday at our county fair!

Mary