Making Family Candles

Separated wax in bowls

Remember those crafty project posts I used to do? Well, I’ve completed a few of these projects while the site was having trouble. So, without further ado, we resume the crafty goodness!

I really enjoy making candles from old wax. When you burn a candle, there’s always some left behind, and it can either go into the trash, or it can be melted back down and formed into a new candle. I’m sure that it’s no surprise to my regular readers that I prefer the latter.

A very old box of Gulf wax

The blue wax came from some leftovers of varying shades, as well as a purple candle, if I remember correctly. The red came from a massive candle that my parents received as a housewarming gift when they moved to Shelby Township. I burned that candle, because I can’t bring myself to melt down a full, unused candle. It feels wrong. Anyway, even after burning, it produced a LARGE amount of red wax, so I had plenty to work with. The white wax came from very old “new” paraffin wax from Gulf. I was confused as to why wax would have a Gasoline manufacturer’s logo on it, so I looked up what paraffin wax is made out of.

It’s a byproduct of oil processing. *facepalm*

Finished family candles

Let’s blow on by that for a moment, and focus on the next step: making the candles. I didn’t have enough blue or green to spread throughout the candles, so I poured them in my candle, and left most of the red and white for the others. Each layer had a sprinkling of dried leaves and flowers that had been gifted to me by those related by blood and by choice. From what I’ve been told, I did a decent job of preventing bubbles, and none of the glass used has cracked or overheated. I still have a few to hand out, because I operate at a Skippy’s pace. :) All in all, this craft project was a lot of fun, and giving the candles away gives me some really good feelings. A+, would craft again.