All Rights Reserved ~ Mrs. Martha Greene Photos, tips, and content in this lesson provided by: Candlemakers ~

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Marjorie Chambers
6 years ago
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com Photos, tips, and content in this lesson provided by: Candlemakers ~ Lisa Barthuly ~ Sharon Castlebury ~ Lizet Franco

1 In these lessons we will learn the steps to making hand-dipped candles pure & natural from sweet-smelling beeswax in a variety of shapes, styles, & methods. All Rights Reserved ~ Mrs. Martha Greene Photos, tips, and content in this lesson provided by: Candlemakers ~ Lisa Barthuly ~ Sharon Castlebury ~ Lizet Franco & girls Kari Wisdom ~ Martha Greene & children Made from your hands, simple and expendable... Illuminating your home and hearth with a gentle light.

This was a new venture for me, as I have never made hand-dipped candles before last month. Some years ago I made gifts for my family using coloring, paraffin wax and herbs.

2 This was a new venture for me, as I have never made hand-dipped candles before last month. Some years ago I made gifts for my family using coloring, paraffin wax and herbs. I melted, mixed and poured them into recycled cardboard juice concentrate containers and ended up with some pretty little candles for my homemade gifts that year. Then some months back, I was totally inspired by the WEST Ladies DVD [Franklin Spring Media] I viewed on handdipping beeswax candles. It looked like a real homespun experience to create beautiful candles to use in your home. I began to gather up supplies. It doesn t take a lot of extraordinary things and it doesn t take any special skills. My children jumped right into the process and created some lovely candles. You do need to remember caution and care are always needed around hot wax and adult supervision and follow the directions. After talking to Kari Wisdom who had made beeswax hand-dipped tapers many times before I decided to go with her method instead of what I had seen on the Art of Candlemaking by the West Ladies. Lisa uses their method, so you can choose after viewing this lesson. Both methods work to give you lovely homemade light. Here is my supply list with notes and resources~ Pure Beeswax This comes in blocks (usually 1 lb.) or in pellet form. The pellet form melts much quicker (Lisa prefers this form) but I didn t have any trouble melting my 1 lb. blocks in a reasonable amount of time. I had heard it would take a very long time but on medium-high heat it didn t take long at all for me. I would say approximately 45 minutes? How to melt the wax comes later in the lesson. You also will find different grades of beeswax at a wide variety of prices. If you can find a local beekeeper who has excess beeswax you may be able to purchase it from them. I kept bees for a few years and collected my own wax one year. You will find it straight from the hive frames with bits of wings and legs in it and needing cleaning. To do this I melted it all down and strained it thru a cheesecloth into square molds. This cleaned it sufficiently to be suitable for candle making. And it keeps for years and years. Definitely not a perishable item! For this lesson we won t go into preparing beeswax straight from the hives but will use ready blocks of clean beeswax or pellets. Do make sure it is specified as cleaned wax. To use the expensive varieties to me seemed extravagant. The least expensive resource I could find for my clean beeswax was: How much will you need? I started with 5 lbs. for my first attempt. It seemed to be a modest amount but made a variety of candles for us. If you have never handled a block of pure beeswax you will be delighted. It is filled with a sweet-honey fragrance and is smooth and golden. Cotton Wicking When it came to ordering the wicking I got pretty confused! There are lots of sizes and numbers describing wicking to purchase! One candle maker will tell you that you need a specific numbered size and then you will find it listed under a variety of descriptive names & numbers and it can become quite confusing. I learned from Sharon, that you need to have a comparable size wick to the type size candle you are making. If your wick is too large for the candle you have dipped, it will consume your candle too quickly. If it is too small you won t have a nice flame. For my tapers, I used a size #630, which was about the size I would compare to a 6-strand embroidery floss, from

for my pillar candles I used a size #2 wicking, which was comparable to the size a string of yarn from www.betterbee.

I prefer to use only 100% cotton wicks, but have been told you can find wicking in other materials. How much will you need? I started with 5 yards but could have used more.

3 for my pillar candles I used a size #2 wicking, which was comparable to the size a string of yarn from In the West Ladies Art of Candlemaking DVD they recommended a size #24 wicking but I never could find that size listed in my resources for supplies. I prefer to use only 100% cotton wicks, but have been told you can find wicking in other materials. How much will you need? I started with 5 yards but could have used more. Wicking is not expensive and if you buy it in bulk rolls like yards the roll is not large for that bulk amount and you will have it on hand for future use. Besides, it is similar to cotton twine and if you never use it all up in making your own candles you could use it as string. Most households need a stash of string on hand for who knows when or for what? ~ ~ ~ Nothing extraordinary is needed but you will need to set aside the equipment for candle making from now on. Once items are wax-coated, you will not want the duty of cleaning it up to its previous condition! So, I gathered up items I had no longer any use for in my kitchen and am keeping them in a box exclusively for candle making. If you don t have these items on hand the thrift store would be your perfect shopping spot! The Melting Pot Here is where methods differ. Most instructions for handdipping recommend you fill a large stock pot with some water, bring it to boiling, set a tall metal=type container inside, and place your wax pieces, chunks. or pellets, into this tall tin and wait for your wax to melt. [See Left illustration a common method] Since you will be melting wax in the separate tin using the double boiler-type method you will need another tall tin can, like a gallon olive oil tin or something similar to set inside the large pot. You would dip directly into this tall tin of melted wax. Lisa has found a tall metal-type cylinder container which she is using to melt her wax. [See left illustration photo Lisa s melting wax in the double boiler method for dipping.] This method is also taught in the West Ladies DVD called The Art of Candlemaking [Franklin Springs] I learned a different method of melting wax for dipping from Kari and it made perfect sense to me, It is the method I plan to always use as it worked so well for me on my first attempts at hand-dipping. I used a large, tall, stock pot and no extra melting container. I have it set aside for my candle melting pot. [See right illustration photo] You will only be able to make tapers as tall as your pot minus 2-3 inches. You will not want to have your stock pot any fuller than 2-3 inches from the top edge. So for this reason I chose the tallest pot I could find. Now, not to worry here about having enough beeswax on hand to fill up the entire BIG pot! The best thing about this method is you can have only a very small amount of beeswax and still dip candles down to the last bitsy bit of wax! The method is to fill your pot with 2 quarts of water, then place your blocks of wax directly into the pot with water I started with 4 blocks 1 lb. each. Then continue to fill your candle melting pot with water to within 2-3 inches of the top. Turn your heat source on medium-high and wait for the wax to melt. The wax and water will separate with the wax floating on top of the water! Using this method you can continue to dip over and over with only a small bit of surface wax floating on top of your water. As you dip, your candle dips down in and is pulled up thru the layer of wax, floating on the pot full of water, making it necessary not to have a full tin of melted wax at all times as in the first method mentioned. When you have finished dipping all the candles you want to make just set the large stock pot off the heat source to cool completely. Within a matter of hours you will have a layer of hardened beeswax floating on your water. Pour off the water and save your round layer of wax for another candle making session. To store mine I dropped it a few times to break it up into easier-to-store size portions but I am getting ahead of myself back to our equipment for candle-dipping.

Odds & Ends If you'll be attempting more than hand-dipped tapers, like spirals, and honey-glo-pots you will need a heavy rolling pin to flatten out the tapers to prepare them to be spiraled (this

For hand-dipping candles I found a small paring knife useful, [again one which I kept in my candle making supply box and won t use it for again except when I making candles], scissors, and a big

Vicki West on the DVD gave me that thrifty idea! Next it is important to have a place to hang your candles while dipping. They are dipped many more than one time and you hang them up in between dips.

It would not be absolutely necessary as you could hold a length of wicking and dip it into the melted wax but by having the wicks tied to the dowel you are able to dip more than one candle at a time.

4 Odds & Ends If you'll be attempting more than hand-dipped tapers, like spirals, and honey-glo-pots you will need a heavy rolling pin to flatten out the tapers to prepare them to be spiraled (this doesn t have to be exclusively for candles as your candles have hardened slightly and it won t coat your pin with wax] and small water balloons to use as forms for the honey-glo-pots. For hand-dipping candles I found a small paring knife useful, [again one which I kept in my candle making supply box and won t use it for again except when I making candles], scissors, and a big stirring stick. This can be a long handled spoon that you will use only for candle making time or I just went outdoors and found me a sturdy smooth stick and that is now my candle stirring stick! Mrs. Vicki West on the DVD gave me that thrifty idea! Next it is important to have a place to hang your candles while dipping. They are dipped many more than one time and you hang them up in between dips. I found a foldable clothes drying rack the perfect solution to hang my drying candles between dips. You need a stick or dowel to tie your wicking to as a bar to hold and dip the candles. It would not be absolutely necessary as you could hold a length of wicking and dip it into the melted wax but by having the wicks tied to the dowel you are able to dip more than one candle at a time. My husband cut me wood stick strips dowels would work fine too these need to be cut a little smaller than the diameter of your pot so you can easily slip it down into the pot and back up again during the dipping. The dowel/bar is not immersed as you can see as the wicks are tied to it and left free of wax. This is the part that you light on your candle. They will need to be trimmed when your candle is complete. We cut 12 of these stick dowels so we could dip & hang, dip & hang, and make a number of candles. More instructions on the dipping of tapers as the lesson continues. If you plan to embellish honey-glo-pots with flowers or leaves you need a supply of pressed, dried flowers and leaves. The same process could be applied to pillar candles also. This is our simple collection we had from our summer garden. We make it a habit to press and dry flowers thru the summer, every year, from our acres and they made for lovely adornments to our candles. Using tweezers to lift and place the delicate dried naturals is helpful. Also a small block of plain paraffin wax is needed if you want the floral designs on your candle to be vivid. We will come to the procedure near the end of our lesson where the florals are applied to the glo-pots or pillars and we liked the effect of over-dipping in plain paraffin as opposed to beeswax as our florals and leaves were sealed on with the clear, opaque paraffin rather than the beeswax which dulled and gave a heavy coating to the florals. Paraffin wax is available in most grocery stores and craft & variety shops. Left honey-glo-pot over-dipped in clear paraffin VS. Right honey-glo-pot over-dipped in beeswax.

Avoiding the Messies You will need to prepare your work area for dipping candles and be forewarned it is a full day project. You need to have other duties finished and a day set aside for this.

5 Avoiding the Messies You will need to prepare your work area for dipping candles and be forewarned it is a full day project. You need to have other duties finished and a day set aside for this. It is truly enjoyable and rewarding, but takes time and does make quite a mess unless you keep up with it. Please prepare all your areas where you will be working with a layer of newspaper. We found that even though we put down newspaper that it rumpled under our feet with so many feet padding around to see what was going on. It would be a good idea and I will certainly do it next time, to lay down a large old sheet and when using newspaper to secure it in place with large pieces of tape. I had originally thought it would be a good idea to work outside on a camp stove and that would have been a help to not have any mess in the kitchen area. Having a craft/hobby room would be a dream, but for most of us that isn t an option! I don t want to discourage you from trying this and enjoying it, I am just warning you to be prepared by having all surfaces covered as the wax tends to get everywhere unless you are careful. And I cannot stress enough to ONLY use items that you won t use for other things, that will touch and be dipped into the hot wax. I am sure my messies all came from the inexperience of attempting this for the first time and next time I will know better how to avoid it. One of my mistakes was to leave my wax pot on the stovetop burner. I realize now this wasn t necessary. It made for drips around the stove area that couldn t be covered as it would have been a fire hazard to have paper covering surfaces that close to the burner. Once my wax was melted thoroughly I could have removed my full pot of water with my wax layer to a flat work surface that was covered in secured newspaper. Then working from this area would have made a lot less mess than working from the stovetop. Once your wax is fully melted it stays warm for a long while to do a lot of dipping. If your wax pot should cool down too much and your wax begins clumping on your tapers, then you can easily just set it back on the heat source and re-warm it. There is a variance of opinions as to the temperature of the melted wax for the best dipping and results. A thermometer is not necessary; It is simpler to just dip and try. As long as all your wax is thoroughly melted you are good to begin. If the wax doesn't seem to be adhering to the wick give it a few minutes to cool down a bit more and you will get a better dip. We dipped for a very long while after removing the pot of melted wax from the heat source before we had to reheat it a bit. One thing I have purchased, since our first candle making day is a single electric free-stand burner. It was very inexpensive (under $10] and my next candle-day I will cover my work table entirely with newspaper and the area all around it. Then I will use this single free-stand burner to heat my melting pot. This is absolutely NOT a NECES- SITY but a nice LUXURY and used a free-stand burner like this for years in my household until it got old and worn out so I will be using this new one again for more than candle-day. It comes in handy when I need an extra My Luke trying his hand at dipping. The wax was too hot so he burner on heavy cooking days. was losing the taper at the end you see the wick hanging at the bottom with no wax!

When the night throws her mantle o er the skies, and pins it with a star the amber glow of twinkling candlelight charmingly illuminates the old fashioned home, lending a cozy warmth and provincial

Nestled in lovely silver candlesticks, a joyful assemblage of beeswax tapers are set to light at the first glimmer of twilight, to greet the evening, and to impart a soft radiance to the home.

sundries to be melted again and made into new tapers.

6 When the night throws her mantle o er the skies, and pins it with a star the amber glow of twinkling candlelight charmingly illuminates the old fashioned home, lending a cozy warmth and provincial charm to the quaint old furnishings. Nestled in lovely silver candlesticks, a joyful assemblage of beeswax tapers are set to light at the first glimmer of twilight, to greet the evening, and to impart a soft radiance to the home. Little crystal bobeches reside under each candle to protect precious linens from dripping wax, and after the candles have been extinguished, the remnants are gathered and put away with candle making sundries to be melted again and made into new tapers. Used with permission from The Riches and Treasures of Home by Kari Wisdom BOBECHES ~ A fancy crystal disc that protects fine table linens and furniture from dripping candle wax. Lovely vintage glass-etched bobeches are available at Step-By-Step 1 Cut the wicking to the desired length. Remember to leave enough extra to tie it onto the dowel and to be able to trim your wicks when the candle is completed. 2 Tie the wicking in a small secure knot to the dowel. We put our wicking 4 per dowel but you can do it anyway you like just so you have some room between them remember your candles will grow fatter with each dip! If you choose to do just 2 per dowel it usually results in a nice pair as they were dipped together and have plenty of room. 3 You begin by wetting your wick with melted wax. Using the one pot water with wax melted on the top layer (floating) method it is best to not get the cotton wick wet until it has a nice coating of wax on it. So just lightly float your wicks tied to the dowel around the very top where there is only wax and then pull them back out. Hang them to dry for 3-5 minutes on the drying rack then tug at the very end of the wick to straighten it out. Give it just a dip or two more just like this and tug again at the very end of the wick to straighten it nicely and this should be sufficient to give your wick a good coating of beeswax and to hold it straight for all the subsequent dips. 4 Next begin to dip your coated wicks into the hot wax an your wicks should drop all the way to the bottom of the pot where you have warm water. When you pull them UP thru the wax layer it will coat them nicely. You begin with just pencil-like thin tapers but with each dip (drying a few minutes between dips] suddenly you begin to see a nice build-up and a beautiful taper forming. Continue dipping, dipping and dipping being sure to let them harden slightly between dips on the drying rack. Keep a rotation going and you can dip a lot of candles in one day! My friend, Sharon and daughter Chelsey, got a rhythmic dipping pattern going & we delighted to see tapers forming right before our eyes!

CANDLELIGHT! To get a nice shape at the bottom of your tapers that will stand neatly in a candleholder you will need to work on achieving that while the candle is still warm and slightly pliable.

Then work it with my fingers to round it slightly and then you can slip it back down into the melting pot and pull it back up thru this is called overdipping and it will smooth out any little nicks

I prefer to do this after my candles have no warmth left to them. Lay them carefully on a clean flat surface I like to lay them in a box lined with tissue paper.

Kari also likes to put hers in the freezer to chill them before lighting. She tells me that this also will give you a longer lasting light.

] Wicking [Sized per candles you are making tapers or pillars?] Beeswax [Cleaned blocks or pellets.

7 CANDLELIGHT! To get a nice shape at the bottom of your tapers that will stand neatly in a candleholder you will need to work on achieving that while the candle is still warm and slightly pliable. I prefer to lay the taper down on a flat, hard surface and cut it off with my knife I have set aside for candle making. Then work it with my fingers to round it slightly and then you can slip it back down into the melting pot and pull it back up thru this is called overdipping and it will smooth out any little nicks or scratches or slight imperfections you may have gotten in your taper. Using your scissors you will trim your tied wicks from your dowel. I prefer to do this after my candles have no warmth left to them. Lay them carefully on a clean flat surface I like to lay them in a box lined with tissue paper. Your wick should be trimmed at the top to about 1/2 inch. Allowing your candles to harden and cure for about 2 weeks before lighting will help you get a longer lasting candle. Kari also likes to put hers in the freezer to chill them before lighting. She tells me that this also will give you a longer lasting light. Candle Maker s SUPPLY LIST Tall Stock Pot [Forever and hereafter for wax melting only!] Sticks or Dowels [Cut to fit inside the opening of your dipping pot.] Wicking [Sized per candles you are making tapers or pillars?] Beeswax [Cleaned blocks or pellets.] Rolling Pin [Used for shaping tapers into spirals] Single Electric Burner [Total luxury for a different work area other than your kitchen stovetop.] Pressed & Dried Florals [Optional for embellishing glo-pots and pillars] Paraffin Wax [Optional for sealing on florals and leaves] Newspaper [Protection for all surfaces] Stirring stick [A literal stick will do!] Drying Rack [Get creative I used my expandable-foldable clothes drying rack it worked like a charm!] Water Balloons [Used for molding/forming glo-pots.] There are two ways of spreading light; the candle or the mirror that reflects it. ~Edith Wharton Kari made these spiced beeswax candles by simply adding cinnamon and nutmeg (ground) to her beeswax. Then dip the tapers per the instructions. I would recommend doing this at the end when you have your last few left to dip unless you want them all to be spiced...as once you mix the spice into your wax you can t remove it. Use up to 1/4 cup of spice per 1 lb. of beeswax. It is really optional and just trial and error as to how much spice you add. Aren t they pretty and homespun a? - and they smell delicious!

Getting Creative This was our first try at this old-fashioned art housewives of yesteryear probably considered it a normal household chore and had grown up making them with their mothers.

My children jumped right in and ended up teaching me from their hands and bright minds eager to try and succeed at a variety of designs like spiraled tapers and honey-glo-pots.

To make pretty spiral tapers as you see in our pictures Allow the taper to cool slightly. [The trick for these is the taper has to be just cool enough but not too cooled so it is trial and error.

All you do is lay your taper on a hard surface and roll it (smash it basically) with a heavy rolling pin. If it cracks your taper is too cool or too warm.

8 Getting Creative This was our first try at this old-fashioned art housewives of yesteryear probably considered it a normal household chore and had grown up making them with their mothers. Candles were a necessity to light their homes before the modern convenience of electricity. My children jumped right in and ended up teaching me from their hands and bright minds eager to try and succeed at a variety of designs like spiraled tapers and honey-glo-pots. Our very first candle making day at our house we just had to try some fancy things as dipping tapers did tend to get tiring. To make pretty spiral tapers as you see in our pictures Allow the taper to cool slightly. [The trick for these is the taper has to be just cool enough but not too cooled so it is trial and error. My 11 year old made all the beautiful spirals as he seemed to get a touch for when the taper was just cooled enough. All you do is lay your taper on a hard surface and roll it (smash it basically) with a heavy rolling pin. If it cracks your taper is too cool or too warm. Then as soon as it is flattened you just carefully twist it. Each and every one is different in shape and size and they are just beautiful! To make the beautiful glo-pots you simply fill a water balloon with cold water and tie it off. Then dip this into the warm, melted wax over and over (the same as dipping tapers. You see the first few layers in the illustration above. You also need to set it on a flat surface as soon as it is just slightly cooled to get a flat bottom to it so it will stand alone when completed. Dip until you feel you have it thick enough about 1/4 thickness over your balloon. Then when it is completely cooled. Pop your balloon and it comes right out leaving you with a beautiful honey wax pot. You can arrange pressed flowers and leaves on yours as we did and protect them with a few dips into pure paraffin. (This should be done before you POP your balloon so you can continue to dip to coat your design) You see the difference in over-dipping in beeswax vs. paraffin in our lesson pictures. We made our own tea lights by pouring beeswax into some small egg poachers and adding a wick, or you can purchase tea lights to burn inside your glo-pots.. They give off a beautiful soft light and make lovely handmade gift items. Made from your hands, simple and expendable...illuminating your home and hearth with a gentle light.

Mary Sheldon Green Forests Work

Mary Sheldon Green Forests Work Gathering Supplies Get out all the candle making supplies you need. Molds, wicks, wax, melting/pouring pot, thermometer, scale, and saucepan as double boiler. (color and