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113 - with Thanks |
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Dipped Candles |
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Tinted wax and the simple act of dipping transform the humble candle
into original art. You might want to carve out an afternoon all
to yourself to take the plunge and play with colour. It's a little
messy and a lot of fun, so be prepared with plenty of tints, enough
paraffin and loads of candles. You may find yourself with a vast
stash of home made thank you gifts! |
Tools and Materials
- several pillared candles of various sizes
- test candle
- paraffin wax
- several empty cans
- tints - candle colouring (do not use food colouring)
- piece of white paper
- aluminium foil covered baking sheet
Method
- Slowly heat paraffin wax in old pots or heat wax in clean,
dry coffee cans in pots containing water.
- Careful - paraffin wax gets very hot and is flammable!
- Add tints to melted wax and experiment with colour intensities.
- Do a tint test by dribbling coloured liquid wax onto paper.
Adjust colour as desired by adding tint.
- Dip a test candle into coloured wax to assess colours.
- Holding candles by their wicks, dip each candle into the tinted
wax in an even and slow motion.
- Place dipped candle on foil covered flat surface, such as
a foil covered cookie sheet.
- Allow candle to cool before dipping again to intensify colour.
- Dip into a second colour if desired and allow to cool and
dry.
- Suggestions on presenting the dipped candles as gifts include:
wrapping in decorative paper and tying with ribbon, lashing
a few candles together with a grosgrain ribbon fastened with
a sprig of bittersweet, packing candles into a woven bag or
into an attractive box with decorative paper.
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