Okay, so I messed up,
I was working on one final spooky craft to end the season right, but I didn’t like how it turned out and moved to doing a different craft. However, this one is not spooky. What a bummer, however, with only one day left to Halloween, I don’t think anyone would do a spooky craft in time, so maybe in my own way, this all worked out.
This week, I have been phone and text banking daily ( you can too! there are still places that still could use last min volunteers) so I didn’t have a ton of time to craft, so this is a fast one, but I think it’s still really fun and will be a great lead in to the holiday seasons. We are going to shape some candles. I know this is maybe my hundredth candle craft, but this is an elegant one.
To start you will need taper candles. I got mine from the dollar store, but any taper style candle will work.
To start out, you want to remove the packaging and submerge them into a container filled with warm water. Your water should be warm enough that it will stay warm for about 10-15 minutes, but it shouldn’t be boiling or close to.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have a tall enough vase/jar/mug to submerge them completely, but for the best results, you should submerge as much as possible. Let the candles soften in the water for about 10-15 minutes. You are going to want to work with one at a time and leave the others in the hot water.
You will want a flat workspace and I covered mine in wax paper to make sure nothing got messy, however, this really isn’t a messy craft.
You want to make sure you are working quickly because the cooler the candle gets the harder it will be to work with and the more likely it will break or tear. You can always put it back in warm water if you need to.
Take a rolling pin, or really anything that is a similar shape -I used a cup-, and use it to flatten the middle section of the candle. You want to start slow (I know I said to work fast, unfortunately, it’s a little of column A and a little of column B for this craft) and apply pressure in a rolling motion.
You should have something that looks like this. When it’s flat, hold the bottom and slowly add a twist to your candle. The warmer the candle still is the better it will twist.
I wanted it to twist twice but mine got too cold to do it. So I was left with one twist. I should have made my water warmer or let it sit longer (I am not sure which exactly it was). For my second candle, I decided to do something a little more simple. I simply added a curve to it.
When you are happy with your shape you need to submerge them in cold water for about five minutes. Then take them out and you have some personalized shaped candles.
I think I am going to do this again and try for more twists, but I would love to see how you do them if you try this one.
I kind of did my “ways to help” at the beginning of this one, but no matter how this election shapes up, we have to remember to keep fighting. We cannot slip into complacency and that means working and often working on a more local level. I will see you on the other side.
As always, stay safe and stay crafting.