Friday, January 14, 2011

Candle Dipping - Beeswax Tapers and Birthday Candles

Abby dipping our tapers.  We make our own candles each winter from the beeswax we buy from our neighbor.  It has been a joy to watch Abby enjoy and learn the different seasonal projects we do each year.

She made 9 pairs of birthday candles to use for Thomas' 17th birthday party tomorrow.  Seventeen, oh my!


The finished taper to light each night with supper.

Warm wishes,
Tonya

22 comments:

  1. That's something i need to practice. My tapers are always so wonky!

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  2. What a wonderful project for your daughter :) I agree with Julie that my dipping technique could use some work to as mine never turn out quite a smooth as I would like *grin*.

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  3. Such a wonderful project and what I like about candle making is that it is an enjoyable, achievable project for children to handle. You are so lucky that you can source beeswax from a neighbour. Happy birthday to your son - 17! wow!!

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  4. Such a terrific craft to learn with your child. :)

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  5. I have three beeswax candles. They were made by each one of my children on a field trip that the second graders went on each year (no more field trips... budget cuts). I've never lit the candles... I just don't have the heart. The kids always tell me "Mom it was so easy, we did it in second grade... you can do it!" I think it is sweet that your birthday candles are handmade... so special.

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  6. there certainly is something so meaningful about dipping your own supply of winter candles! beautiful job!

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  7. What a wonderful job Abby did. The candles look beautiful. We dipped candles last year, and haven't gotten to it yet this year. Need to soon, as we are almost out. I've never thought of making our birthday candels. What a marvelous idea. I would love to have a local source for bees wax.

    Blessings, Elizabeth

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  8. I just love the smell of beeswax candles. What a fun project! We have a fair bit of beeswax I stocked up on a while back and I'm feeling inspired to do something with it now. I've never made tapers before.... :)

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  9. this looks amazing. i definitely want to try this when my daughter is a little older... looks wonderful - aromatically, and for all the senses.

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  10. What a wonderful family activity and a special gift for your home. We always talk of doing this but have yet to invest in any beeswax for crafting (other than the girls modeling beeswax which of course gets used all the time...)
    Happy weekend to you Tonya!
    With love, Renee :)

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  11. I remember seeing your hand dipped candles from last year. We tried it last year, but they turned out all clumpy. This year my oldest made a whole bunch at a nearby Camphill community. I was lucky enough to get a pair from her for Christmas. I don't know if I want to burn them though. They seem super special to me. So maybe we should try to make a bunch this year. Do you use a specific size wick?

    :)Lisa

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  12. FUN! I dipped my own many years ago...must do it again some time :-)

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  13. Birthday wishes to Thomas--doesn't time fly! Great job with the candles. The last time I did them was up at Tasha Tudor's outside in a big cast iron pot--so much fun. I am trying to convince my husband to set up a tripod outside so I can do the same soon:-)

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  14. What a great gift from one sibling to another! You are so lucky to have such a nice local source.

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  15. Hi Tanya! I just read about your new interest in learning about herbs. I've been following a blog for a while and thought you might be interested in checking it. don't know if you've seen this blog before: http://my herlbal-journey.blogspot.com It's written by a Christian homeschooling mom who has another blog: http://its-our-life-for-six.blogspot.com called Urban Homestead South Africa. I think you might enjoy her blogs. She's just started studying up on herbs and is writing about it in her herb blog. Hope you enjoy them! - Ellie, Toronto

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  16. Oops! I made a mistake on the helbal blog address. It should read http://my herbal-journey.blogspot.com

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  17. Wonderful! We've made tealights, but haven't yet tried making dipped candles. And dipped ones have SO much character. And a soon-to-be-17-year-old. Wow! Sending birthday wishes...

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  18. oh, I love this Tonya! We have made poured beexwax candles- I know the children would love to do some dipping!

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  19. These are so beautiful! I'll bet your kitchen smelled great too : )

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  20. I need to show this to my son...we just read about colonial trades and we read about the chandlery who makes candles. He was fascinated by the entire thing.

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  21. This is great! I have never made candles from beeswax before but I have been thinking about trying it for some time. It doesn't sound too difficult. Love this post. It really sparked a flame under me. I think we will actually try it now instead of just thinking about it.

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  22. Oh nice I love beeswax! I have been thinking of trying beeswax candles instead of just doing soy, since I love how htey smell...

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