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Posted by Zaida on July 05, 1999 at 19:25:15:
Candles - extremely easy to make and look absolutely fabulous. Anyone lucky enough to receive one of these as a gift will be overjoyed at the shear beauty.
(WARNING: this craft involves melting wax, therefore an adult must supervise the wax at all times.)
MATERIALS NEEDED:
Paraffin wax (buy from any craft supply store or sewing centre
Wick
Clear plastic cups ( McDonalds Sundae cups are perfect!)
masking tape
empty tins (old baked bean tins etc.)
frying pan
water
crayons
crayons
cheese grater
spoons or popsicle or craft sticks
oven mitt or tea towel
sand - this is not used to make the candles but is needed in case of an emergency. If the wax catches on fire, or is spilt, water will not help. Sand is needed to be thrown over the wax. (This craft is safe but this is a safety precaution everyone should take, especially when working with children.) Tap Water - if someone accidentally has hot wax spilt on them, the best thing to do is to put their body part under cold water.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1.Half fill the frying pan with water.
2.Place tins in the water.
3.Place paraffin wax in tins.
4.Turn on the frying pan and boil the water. (The tins will rattle about, but do not worry they do not fall over)
5.The boiling water should heat up the tins and melt your wax.
6.Keep an eye on the water level throughout this craft activity as you will need to refill the frying pan occasionally as you do not want the water to boil dry.
7.Get the children to grate different coloured crayons onto separate piecesof paper, keeping each colour separate. (The crayon gratings will be used to colour the wax)
8.Pre-warn the children not to grate their fingers, as some kid's often get carried away.
9.Once they have made at least eight small piles of different colours, get them to bring each pile over to the wax.
10.Carefully pour the different colours separately into the tins of wax.
11.Stir the crayon gratings into the wax and this should change the colour of the wax.
12.Then, give each child a plastic cup or sunday container, a piece of wick (make sure the length is taller than the cup or container), and a popsicle stick.
13.Using the masking tape help the children stick one end of the wick to the bottom of their cup (on the inside) and then stick the other end to the popsicle stick.
14.Rest the stick on the rim of the cup and the wick should be vertical.
15.Once all the containers are ready, it is time to pour the wax.
16.You may want to ask the children if they would like just one colour or if they would like their candle to have stripes.
17.This will depend on your time frame. The striped candles will take a while longer.
18.Adult - with children watching and supervising their candle being made
19.Using a tea towel, or oven mitt, take a tin of coloured melted wax and pour it into the cups.
20.If a child wants theirs all one colour, fill the cup to the brim and place it on a tray in the fridge. Leave it there until they go home or when it is set.
21.If a child wants theirs striped pour about 2 - 3cm of wax in the cup and then put that in the fridge.
22.Wait about 10 mins (until the wax is firm), take it out of the fridge and then pour another layer of coloured wax in the container or cup.
23.Continue this process until the entire cup has been filled, or at least reached the desired height.
24.Finally, leave the cup in the fridge overnight to let the wax firm up properly. When the candle is ready, tip it upside down, press on the bottom of the cup and it should just fall out! (If it doesn't, just cut the cup away from the candle with a pair of scissors).
25.Then, cut the wick, throw away the popsicle stick, and light 'er up!
These candles are really great fun to make. I realize they may sound a little dangerous but they are not. If you take the right precautions you should never have a problem.

Other Candle Craft Sites:
Wax Craft
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1673/candle.htm
Candle Making 101
http://ansel.his.duq.edu/~doughert/CANDLE.HTM
The Candle Cauldron
http://www.flnet.com/~amethyst/candlecauldron.html

Posted by Heidi on September 26, 1999 at 05:42:02:
Crafter's Community has a tutorial on making candles.
http://crafterscommunity.com/tutorials/candles.html

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