Friday the kids tried their hands at candle making.  Needless to say, it was interesting and they learned that they are glad they didn’t live in the 1700’s.

At first they were totally bored.  It seemed to them that it wasn’t working.

After about 30 or 40 more cycles of dipping into the wax and then into the water, they began to see some progress.

Then they wanted to add some color so we added crayon shavings into the wax.

 

Now they were getting excited as the wax began to build up. Then they decided to get creative by layering the colors.

By the end of the whole experience they were joking and laughing about the shape of their candles.   They didn’t care they were deformed. (I have no clue how we were supposed to make them straight.  We followed the directions. LOL) They enjoyed the art of creation and learned some valuable lessons.

We used the leftover wax to make poured candles using a TP tube. I had done this in elementary school.

All you need to make them is candle wax, crayon shavings for color, TP tube, aluminum foil, wick, a popsicle stick or pencil, a washer, and newspaper.

Fold the foil in fours then mold it around the bottom of the tube. Tie one end of the wick to the washer and the other to the popsicle stick or pencil, adjusting it so that the washer just rests near the bottom of the tube and the wick is fairly straight.

Because we mixed our wax with water for melting, be sure to use plenty of newspaper under where you will be pouring.  The water will seep from the bottom.  Pour the wax into the tube adjusting the wick in place. 

This shows the mess made and the reason for the paper.

We let them sit over night.  Then we peeled the tube off.  This takes a bit to get all the paper off. We used water to help get the rest of the cardboard off.

We then trimmed the wicks and the bottoms of our ‘tapered’ candles and lit them.  By golly, they work. LOL