Candle Making

Our oldest just finished reading Felicity: An American Girl.  When she started reading the American Girl Series I ordered from the company Hands of Child a study help for the American Girl Books.  It provides lapbook materials and historical guides that go along with the time periods of the different books.  One of the activities that went with Felicity was candle making.  Here is how to make candles.

 Take your wick, available at a craft store,  measure out about 10 inches and cut.

 Tie one end of your wick around a stick or in our case a pencil.

 Next, set up an area with two tall cups where you can set your candle up to dry.

 Melt your wax over a double boiler.  I used a disposable tin.  If you've ever used wax before it's a nightmare to remove after it's hardened.  By doing it this way I could just throw the tin away when I was done.  But you do have to be careful because the tin isn't very sturdy on top of your pot.

                                        

                                            Once your wax has melted completely you can pour it into a cup

 Once the wax is in your cup, start dipping your wick into the wax.  (Once again you probably want to use a cup that you could throw away when your down.)  Let stand for 15 seconds after each dip.  If I did this again I would probably use a taller glass mason jar that I could have left in hot water to keep the wax from hardening during the process. 

 After you achieve the size candle you want, hang them to dry.  Don't these look like the wax that Shrek pulled out of his ear to make a candle.  Gross!!!!  I have come to the conclusion that candle making in this form is an art!

Here is one of our girls admiring her work!  Doesn't she look proud?