Star Candels

I noticed that I have yet to post any crafts. I worked so hard on making the 36 candles for my sister's baby shower, so I decided this would be the perfect way to break into my craft blogging ;-). Like I said in my post about my sister's shower (found here) It took me 8 tries before getting this to work smoothly. I'd say by the end, I got to be pretty proficient with this candle making stuff. A couple of notes, I noticed that if you are making a lot of candles, it is good to have a lot of molds. The reason I made the candles was 2 fold: (1) because I have never made a candle in my life, and I wanted to try it out, and (2) because I wanted pink star candles for the shower and could not find any that I liked. With that said, it's probably best to start small when you're starting a craft, not intending to make 36 (which actually started out as 40), and for a huge event you are planning (i.e. baby shower). Yes, I was a bit crazy and stressed with this candle making stuff, but it actually ended up being a lot of fun. I got the inspiration from Martha Stewart's Website which had an article on floating candles. I'm not sure if these will float, I'll have to try it.

Supplies:
 Wax (I got the crafty candles wax crystals from Hobby Lobby. I mixed pink with white wax)
 Wicks ( I got the crafty candles waxed wick and wick tabs (3-1/2") there were 10 in a pack)
 Mold of some sort (I used star cookie cutters)
 Wax paper and tape (if using cookie cutters)
 Measuring cup with spout
 Double boiler
 Knife
 Fragrance (optional) (I used sugar cookie fragrance)
 Glitter (optional)
 Cookie sheet (optional, but makes clean up easier)

Pre step (if using cookie cutters):
cut wax paper to cover the bottom of the cookie cutter. I found that cutting the wax paper in a circle works best for the star cookie cutters. I cut the circle to be about a half of an inch larger than the star. I then taped the wax paper to the cookie cutter. I then placed a sheet of wax paper on a cookie sheet for easy clean up. I then placed the cookie cutters on the cookie sheet.

Step 1: Melting the Wax
 I didn't have a double boiler, but they said that you do not want to heat wax directly on the stove, so I used a sauce pan filled with water, and then floated a smaller sauce pan in it. I then poured the wax crystals in it (half white, half pink), and melted. This is also when you add the fragrance, if you choose to have fragrance.

Step 2: Pouring the wax
I then poured the hot wax into the spouted measuring cup. I then put just small amount just to cover the bottom of the star cookie cutter. The wax tends to leak a little, allowing the small amount to harden a bit before pouring the rest of the wax helps keep the wax from leaking too much from the cookie cutters. This is also a good time to put the wicks in each of the cookie cutters. Pour the rest of the wax in each of the cutters.

Step 3: Glitter (optional)
 Once the wax starts to harden a bit, but still a little soft, sprinkle glitter to make the stars sparkle and shine :)

Step 4: Removing the candles
 Once the wax is completely hardened (usually about an hour,  I usually did it at night, and allowed the candles to harden over night), remove the wax paper. Break off the excess wax. Use a knife to loosen the wax from the cookie cutter, and then press through.

Then you should have a beautiful star candle.