Candle Making Sharing

Girls Made Five Different Types of Candles!

Candlemaking was the perfect activity to do before Christmas because the girls used their candles as gifts. We made several types of candles and decorated them with pressed flowers, glitter, and cut-out beeswax shapes.

Tart Candles: Each girl got to keep a metal mold for the tart candles. Some did these with tab wicks to make floating candles, and others used scents to make potpourri tarts to melt without wicks.

Beeswax Candles: We used green, red and gold sheets of beeswax cut into 4”x8” pieces to make small pillar candles. These were rolled in glitter and were beautiful. We also used cookie cutters to cut out Christmas shapes from the beeswax sheets and glued them to 3" wide white pillar candles (Dollar Store)with melted wax.

Votive Candles: We used little barrel-shaped glass votives to make layered candles with two different colors of wax.

Decorated Candles: We used pressed violets to decorate little white candles about two inches tall. We melted one of the candles in a mandarin orange can (sitting in an electric frying pan filled with water) and applied a little wax to the candle and stuck the violets on it. Then we dipped the whole candle in the little can to apply a thin coat on the entire sides of the candles. These were so adorable!  (Phoenix, AZ)

Candles for Gift Giving

What fun! We did candle making in our Keepers class around the first of December. All the children enjoyed learning about candle making and making the three different candles. We kept the candles until the last class before Christmas so that the children could take them home as gifts for their parents. They really liked being able to give a gift they had made all by themselves. (Springdale, AR)

Four Candles in One Meeting!

Our host was Amy Heafner and her daughter Graceanna.  Amy has been making candles for as long as she can remember, being taught early by her grandmother.  She had a wealth of knowledge that she was able to draw from and a large box full of candle making supplies that was fun to look through.

The meeting started with each of the girls reading some information from the Keepers Handbook about early candles and how waxes can be made from plants or animals.  Reading out loud, this participation helped the girls to actively take a role in learning.

Amy began by preparing the counter surface with a liner to make clean up easy and informed the girls they would be helping to clean up afterwards.  She also gave many examples of candles that she and her family had previously made.  She provided a wealth of information on recycling wax, and frugal ways to obtain wax. Amy told the girls they would make 4 kinds of candles.

The first candle made was the dipped pillar candle.  They all took turns in a line waiting for their turn and ‘re’turn to the stovetop to dip their candles.  It was a slow process and Amy was very patient and a great teacher because if the candle wasn’t dipped quickly enough, the wax would all fall off.

The second candle the girls made was a mold candle.  The girls all crushed ice to put in a small cardboard mini orange juice container.  The ice melted after the wax was poured in.  Once the wax had dried and the cardboard was torn away, the effect of the crushed ice was a beautiful design on the candle creating a maze of intricate holes.

The third candle was a container candle.  The girls were allowed to pick any color they desired and helped to grate crayons to make the desired effect.  Real candle colors versus crayon colors were discussed with pros and cons mentioned on each.  This was a beautiful demonstration as you can see in the pictures. Small glass candle containers were used and made pretty candles.

The fourth candle made was a novelty candle.  The girls each picked a shell that Graceanna graciously shared with her guests.  Once, picked, the girls all agreed on a color and the wax was poured in.  The wick used in this kind of candle was much shorter and different than the wicks used in the other candle. It provided a good discussion on wicks.

All the girls participated in some way to help with the candle making. Afterwards, Amy gave the girls a handout and discussed the many different kinds of candle you can make, some using a balloon and other out of the box ideas that she had found on line.

She did a beautiful job and the girls were very proud of their candle accomplishments.  WE LOVE KEEPERS!  (Charlotte, NC)