I didn’t really have a plan for today; we were just supposed to make something that floats. Immediately everyone I know said, make a boat, but who wants to be like everyone else. Not me! Finally I decided to soften up some wax (it floats) and see what we come up with.
Modern candles are made with paraffin wax, yet another fine product we use crude oil to make. Its not just gasoline[1]! Luckily, this is a byproduct of gasoline production, so it does not call for extra consumption. Alternative waxes can be found in bees wax and the candelilla plant[2] which has a very interesting history. Please check the link below to find out more.
Next I let the wax cool a bit until LeeAnn and I could touch it. (I did try to mold the soft clay. But I was the wrong type and crumpled, often becoming cool to quickly). We began simply by putting our fingers in the wax; LeeAnn made one wax finger that she let me keep, and re-melted the others in the large pot that never quite got cool. I was able to make a set of fingers and an entire hand.
After that we went outside into the garden and picked several flowers. Once back inside I let LeeAnn dip them into the hot wax and drop them into a water bucket. If we shook off the excess wax, they turned out very nice and preserved the flower quite well.
Finally I let LeeAnn make a candle. By using one of the old wicks and a ruler, she was able to dip the wick into the hot wax and then dip it into the cool water. By alternately dipping the wick in this manner she was able to make two small drip candles.
Clean up was a nightmare though. If you want to explore any of these crafts further I suggest dedicated tools, so the cleaning does not have to be a thorough. It took a long time to get every bit of wax off of the pots and utensils!
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