It's the holiday season and time to come up with some candle ideas! Where do you start? Every year, I "just start" somewhere ... and by the time the season is in full swing, I start to create designs that begin to take form. For me, I need to be able to experiment a bit to get into the swing of things. One first place to start is the decision of what type of candles and what type of wax or waxes will be used . For instance, container wax, pillar wax, beeswax, candle gel ... a light gel for containers? ... a medium gel for embedding? ... a heavy (firm) gel for stand alone?
Once you have decided if you want to make container candles or molded candles, then there is the design factor ... will they be decorated in any way? If plain, that's fairly simple, as the glassware you select will really be the main object of attention. And, you could add decorative embellishments attached to the glass that are non-flammable. For pillars, chunk candles with various colors can be interesting, or with dripped colors of wax on the top or sides. For novelty candles, you can always go with various themes. For instance, one year, I went with a cookie or candy theme and started off making the "cookies" first. Here are some examples of what I did ...
These "cookies" were created with a high meltpoint wax, so, when used in gel candles, they didn't melt, as long as they were embedded in such as way as to not be overly- exposed to heat. Or, they were used on top of a container candle, or on a dessert type of candle in the "whipped cream" ... so, you see, there are many ideas you can begin to work with that can be a lot of fun. Candy molds were used to make them, with the glitter sprinkled into the molds before carefully pouring the wax into the mold ... note that when you pour the wax, you don't want to pour it directly where your glitter is, as it will move it around too much.
Since candles can help to warm your home during the winter and give a "warm" feel to things, they are wonderful gifts and they smell nice too ... so, just think of some ideas you may with to work with, and don't be afraid to experiment! The candle below started off as a chimney candle ... the mold used is from a container of "half & half" ... torn away after the candle molded ... then, a bit of distress to the "chimney" and some snow on top. I may make more of these this year, however, I believe I will leave the gifts off ... my initial thought was that Santa dropped some gifts on his way down the chimney, but then, upon burning the candle, the burning gifts didn't look so good! To make the snow ... wax is melted and then allowed to cool a bit, then whisked with a fork until it begins take form and quickly applied to the top of the candle ... to get a bit of glossy "melting" look ... pour a bit of wax over the top of it. (Make sure you are doing this on a plate or platter, as it can tend to be a bit messy.)
Never be afraid to experiment !! As long as you have an open mind as the season gets underway ... you'll be making wonderful candles in time for giving them away!
Happy Candle-crafting !!
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