Candle Kits
Those of us that share a passion for candle making tend to have a preference for either gel candle or soy candle amongst other kind of wax.
What is the difference between gel and soy candles ?
The term gel in candle crafting applies to wax which is actually mineral oil thicken by a special polymer which transforms the oil to a clear, see-thru, slow burning candle. This transparence is a unique characteristic.
The term soy in candle crafting applies to wax produced by hydrogenated soybean oil. That is why it is called a natural wax.
What attributes of gel candles and soy candles can impact on our decision when it comes to choose?
Well, soy candles had the reputation to flake, crumble, and discolor while not every fragrance oil was compatible with gel candles.
Soy wax does not give an equal deep scent but the natural and clean burn is a satisfactory ecologic alternative. As for gel wax, you can create original themes by adding decorative embedments. Makes your imagination run wild.
Bottom line, it is really a question of what suits your taste and your personality, because each type of wax has a balanced pro and con chart.
For a truly creative hands on experience in candle making, there is one book that I think every serious candlemaker must have: The Complete Candlemaker . Techniques. Projects.Inspirations by Norma Coney.
Throughout the 128 pages, you will learn to make :
" 40 kinds of gorgeous candles, from hand-dipped to tie-dyed, from molded to marbleized, from carved to appliqué ! It's fun and easy.
This book provides everything you need to know to make your own beautiful candles.Guided by clear instructions and how to color photography, you'll soon know how to:
- find and use the necessary equipment
- select wicks, waxes and additives
- choose and care for candle molds
- perform magic with fragrance and color
- practice work safety
Learn to make a dazzling array of candles, including container, molded, hand-dipped,rolled beeswax, chunk, tie-dyed,hurricane, votive, interior decorated, water, sand, floating, cut and curl,overdipped, marbleized, stippled, embossed, carved, and appliqued.
This truly is a complete candlemaking book. "
It will inspire even the timid first-timer. And the best part of it all is that this book is included in the beautiful and unique candle kit multi-projects => The Complete Candlemaker Book & Kit .
In following articles, I will show you how to make candles with different candle kits, from the arrival of the candle kit at the door, up till the finalized project . All with color photographs depicting the step by step procedure.
And guess what ?
I will start these candle kits sessions with The Complete Candlemaker Book & Kit, an original Lark Kit . :-)
Just imagine...you want to prepare a candlelight dinner for your sweetheart, with roses, love and wine. The easy way to get what you need for this romantic dinner...is to start creating the candles !
We will do it together...:-)
Stay tuned ...
Janice
Candle Kits review: The Complete Candlemaker Book & Kit
What an exciting moment that was when the postman rang the doorbell, greeting me with a smile upon pronouncing these words: "A package for you".
I was about to make my first steps into the creative world of candle kits !
Let's start filling our home with candlelights. :-)
Ready for a fun candle making project? Ok, let's see how it goes.
For this first review article, we will experiment the art of candle making with "The Complete Candlemaker Book & Kit", an original Lark Kit that I purchased recently. The picture on the box is different than the one displayed on Amazon, but it is still the same kit.
Unpacking the Candle Kit
First comes first: let's unpack the kit and lay everything in front of us in order to get familiar with the contents.
What do we have in here ?
- 3.5 lbs of paraffin wax
- 1 dipping dowel
- 4 colors of dye chips
- 3 yards of wick
- 6 metal weights
- 1 block vanilla candle fragrance
- 1 reusable rubber candle mold in shape of bee-hive
- 4 pages of Instructions
- 1 copy of The Complete Candlemaker . Techniques. Projects.Inspirations book by Norma Coney.
This 128 pages book is full of gorgeous pictures and contains several candle projects other than the ones we will be making with this kit. A lot of inspirational candlemaking ideas.
The Complete Candlemaker . Techniques. Projects.Inspirations by Norma Coney.
Now, let's talk about the additional material needed, which are not included in the candle kit, to complete the two projects of The Complete Candlemaker Book & Kit which are : Hand-Dipped Tapers and Bee-Hive votives.
Other materials you may need:
- Double-boiler set-up ( note 1 )
- Dipping vat ( note 2 )
- Spoon or stick for stirring wax
- Candy thermometer to monitor temperature of wax
- Scissors
- Cool-water bath ( note 3 )
- Piercing device
- Tapestry needle
- Paper towels or old hand towels
- Spoon ladle
- Clean freezer paper
- Hook or other drying apparatus to hang candles from while cooling
- Pliers
Note 1. The Double-Boiler setup
When a double-boiler bottom is called for, don't take it literally ! In fact, it would be a shame to damage a nice piece of kitchen equipment. Essentially what you need is a pot, not too high and fairly wide, that you will fill with water.
Then you'll fill your dipping vat(s) with wax, and set the vats in the water to melt the wax. This will keep the wax away from a direct heat source, so the temperature won't fluctuate wildly and the wax will melt slowly.
An old, seldom-used pot or a find at the thrift store works well as a double-boiler bottom. Expect the inside of the double boiler to get scraped up and eventually lined with wax.
Note 2. Dipping vat
The dipping vat(s) go inside your double-boiler bottom.
The size of tapers you want to make will determine what size of dipping vat you need. For smaller tapers ( e.g., birthday candles or small, decorative taper sets to hang on the wall), you can use soup cans, tomato paste cans, or any regular 8-oz. food can.
For taller tapers, the ideal method is to melt all of your wax in one large juice can (like a big, 46-oz. metal juice can,etc ) and wind the wick so both candles hang fairly close together. Then you can dip both candles out of one can.
If you want to make really tall tapers, you'll need to use a very tall and very skinny dipping vat.
Three lbs. of wax can make a lot of candles, but if you are trying to fill up a really wide coffee can, the wax isn't going to be as deep as if you were filling up a skinny milk carton, for example.
Always make sure your dipping vat has tight seams before you fill it up. Just fill it with water first and check for leaks.
Note 3. The cool-water bath
Almost any kind of container will work for this - you just need a tub or bucket that's deep enough to dip the entire length of your taper into some cold water.
Let's get started
1. Prepare the wick
We need to make an opening for the wick at the center top of our rubber peel-back beehive mold.
To make the hole, a tapestry needle on which you would have thread the wick or an awl, or even an icepick can do the job.You might need pliers to pull the wick through the top. Let 3/4 inch of the wick sticking out the top of the mold.
Easier said than done ! _______________________________________________________________________________________________________
First of all, I never succeeded to thread the wick into the hole of the needle I had chosen from my sewing kit. I must admit it wasn't a tapestry needle but a smaller holed one. Guess I created myself misery. Consequently reverted to a small metal pick found in the toolbox in the garage. ;-)
Great ! the hole is made. The wick now . Leave enough wick at the bottom of your candle so that you can wind the wick around a pencil ( or the dipping dowel included in the kit ) to keep it straight when you will pour the wax.
2. Create a mold stand
Standard-sized drinking glasses, plastic containers or food cans will work as mold stands.
I selected a drinking glass and delicately installed upside down the mold into it and winded the wick to the dipping dowel.
Checking the instruction sheet, I noticed it called for a cool-water bath to cool the mold after having poured the wax, so I grabbed a big wok-like bowl.
3. Pour the candle
There is no indication on the instruction sheet as to how much wax to melt in the wax melter, so I decided to melt the volume of one cup and it turned out it was okay, as I had a little bit of extra.
Check the temperature of the wax; it should be around 190 degrees Farenheit. It is now time to add the fragrance and the dye color. I scrapped the vanilla bar with a knife and let a couple of layers fall into the melting pot and added a yellow dye chip.
Pour the candle. Might be a good idea to wear plastic gloves to protect your hands from the heat.
Reserve some wax for the topping-off process. If needed adjust the wick to make sure it is correctly centered in the mold.
After 2 or 3 minutes, place the mold in the cool-water bath and make sure it does not tip.
As you can see in the above photo, my mold did tip ! and I lost some wax in the cool-water bath.
But, come to think of it, what I should have done is pour water in the glass before inserting the mold and pouring the wax. Would not have needed that big bowl !
Would it not have been easier ? I would have avoided manipulating the mold after the wax was poured. If you have any comments do not hesitate to post in the post comment area below.
After two hours, I removed the candle from the cool-bath and separated the excess wax aggregated to the candle. With the scissors , cut the excess length of the wick at the bottom.
4. Top off the candle
The wax did shrink significantly during the cooling process and carved a well at the bottom of the candle. This need to be refilled with liquid wax. The time it takes for the well to form depends on the size of the candle. Best to check each 10 minutes or so.
5. Remove the finished candle from the mold
After two hours,I removed the candle from the mold. It came out easily .
If you do not want to wait that long to start another candle you can experiment with found molds.
There is a section in the book ( p.32 ) that talks about these molds that you can find in the house. For example: dairy cartons, cardboard juice cans, rigid plastic containers ( shampoo bottles ) , cocoa containers. Results are unpredictable but there is little to lose by trying, you can always remelt a candle. :-)
6. Taking care of your mold
Pour boiling water onto the mold to remove any excess wax, but never into a sink !
Go outside and bring your kettle with you.
Voilà ! here we are with a cute tiny beehive candle .
It has been a truly fun experience to create this candle.
The draw backs I would like to point out is that it could have included at least two molds.
Also, even though the description on the box states that this candle kit can provides for 10 candles with the 3.5 pounds of wax enclosed, a little bit of guidance would have been appreciated in regards to measurements but I guess that the fact that it can always be remelted if too much volume done, makes it irrelevant.
A good point is that it can be done without creating a mess.
Stay tuned for the next session with this kit. We will create taper candles.
Until next, take care and all the very best.
Janice
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