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| Sweet little crochet hearts |
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| Beeswax candles in natural and Christmassy colours |
The Christmas cake pops were very popular, unsurprisingly so as our stall was place right by the queue to Santa's grotto ;-)
Showing posts with label candles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label candles. Show all posts
Monday, 19 December 2011
Getting Redfestive ready pt IV: the final touches
The last 48h before the Redfestive Christmas Bazaar have been a bit manic, trying to finish everything I'd set out to do. I really wanted a display that would demonstrate a variety of crafts as I'm using the stall not just to sell my wares but also to promote my craft teaching. So with the help of hubby, I've managed to make those last few bits just in time (literally!) for the fair:
The Christmas cake pops were very popular, unsurprisingly so as our stall was place right by the queue to Santa's grotto ;-)
The Christmas cake pops were very popular, unsurprisingly so as our stall was place right by the queue to Santa's grotto ;-)
Monday, 28 February 2011
Making beeswax candles
A few weeks ago, I bought a beeswax candle making kit at Hobbycraft. It just looked like a fun way to spend an afternoon and I love kits, along with taster or introductory courses, they're the best way to learn a new skill without having to commit to buying a load of new tools and materials. After a few busy weeks, I finally got to play with my kit this weekend.
The kit is by House of Crafts and comes in a handy little box which includes 5 sheets of textured yellow beeswax, a length of cotton wick and a booklet with instructions to make the different candles pictured on the front of the box.
All you need to get started is a few tools most crafters already possess: a sharp knife (stanley knife or scalpel), a pair of scissors, a ruler and a cutting mat. It is also quite important that the beeswax is at room temperature so it is malleable.
The instructions are a bit bland as they don't include any pictures bar a couple of schematics and flower petal patterns. I think as the kit is intended for beginners, it would have been nice to have a few more pics. In my opinion, nothing beats a good visual when trying to teach someone a new craft! Because of this lack of images, the instructions in some places refer you to the picture on the front of the box. All well and good, but the picture of the rose candle is badly cropped on the side of the box... not very helpful!
I started with a tall spiral candle and at first, found it hard to roll the wax tightly around the wick. Being a firm believer in "practice makes perfect" I decided to make a second one straight away and that was enough to get it right. In a couple of hours I'd made 5 candles, all looking pretty decent.
I really like the water lily and rose floating candles. I still have about 1,5 sheets of wax left so I might make a few more of them!
If I was planning to have a Christmas market stall, I'd seriously consider making a load of beeswax candles to sell. They're fun and relaxing to make and they look really nice, I'm pretty confident they'd sell well. An added bonus of making those candles is the gorgeous smell of the beeswax, yummy!
The kit is by House of Crafts and comes in a handy little box which includes 5 sheets of textured yellow beeswax, a length of cotton wick and a booklet with instructions to make the different candles pictured on the front of the box.
All you need to get started is a few tools most crafters already possess: a sharp knife (stanley knife or scalpel), a pair of scissors, a ruler and a cutting mat. It is also quite important that the beeswax is at room temperature so it is malleable.
The instructions are a bit bland as they don't include any pictures bar a couple of schematics and flower petal patterns. I think as the kit is intended for beginners, it would have been nice to have a few more pics. In my opinion, nothing beats a good visual when trying to teach someone a new craft! Because of this lack of images, the instructions in some places refer you to the picture on the front of the box. All well and good, but the picture of the rose candle is badly cropped on the side of the box... not very helpful!
I started with a tall spiral candle and at first, found it hard to roll the wax tightly around the wick. Being a firm believer in "practice makes perfect" I decided to make a second one straight away and that was enough to get it right. In a couple of hours I'd made 5 candles, all looking pretty decent.
I really like the water lily and rose floating candles. I still have about 1,5 sheets of wax left so I might make a few more of them!
If I was planning to have a Christmas market stall, I'd seriously consider making a load of beeswax candles to sell. They're fun and relaxing to make and they look really nice, I'm pretty confident they'd sell well. An added bonus of making those candles is the gorgeous smell of the beeswax, yummy!
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