Come on in into the beautifully scented pixie kitchen and watch the little folk make candles. It is really easy and the whole house smells wonderful for ages after.
We used soy wax which we got from here along with the wicks, dye and jars with lids.
First spoon your soy wax into a measuring jug.
Then put it in the microwave until it is hot. It will smell a bit like vegetable oil once it is hot and luckily soy wax has such a low melting temperature, you don't have to faff around with thermometers and risk getting burnt. If you don't have a microwave, you can do it in a Bain Marie on the stove.
Once it is hot and melted you are ready to add your dye (if you want to). The wax sets to a nice creamy colour so it looks great without dye too. However we are colour junkies here in Pixieland so we've added a purple colour chip (from same place as above).
Stir it round until it has dissolved. Looks a bit like Ribena doesn't it?
Then prepare your containers. We have used ready waxed wicks which have a sustainer at the bottom. Wrap the wick around a pencil until it touches the bottom of the glass.
Then take the wicks and pencils out in one piece and lay to one side. You now need to warm the containers so the wax sticks well to the sides. You can give them a blast in the microwave or use hot water (as long as you dry them throughly afterwards).
Then quickly put the wicks and pencils back in position making sure they are as much in the centre as possible.
Finally, add your scent. We used 10% scent to the amount of wax. You can buy scent from the same website or this site also has some lovely smells that are especially for natural wax. Here we are making Violet and Lime . . . lovely. How I wish blogs could smell.
When we made the Rose candles, we added a few drops of Rose geranium essential oil to the Rose candle scent as it smells just like turkish delight. Oh yum . . .
Then you are ready to pour.
When they have set, they look all pretty and sweetie shop like this. The little shot glasses come from Ikea.
Another plus point about soy wax is that it washes off your utensils really easily.
There has been a lot of experimenting in the Pixie kitchen this autumn with the jam and candle making but not a lot of drawing has been completed unless you count the candle labels . . .hmmm
. . .I better get back to the drawing board.
And many thanks to Lucy who opened up this whole new world to me.
