Spring is officially here and Easter is just around the corner...if you are looking for an adorable table decoration or Easter gift to give, this just might be the perfect idea!
These are made with our natural beeswax and colored with some of our powdered herbs. I had alot of fun making them and hope you have just as much fun making this springtime DIY!
Lets get started!
Beeswax Pastilles ( the amount purely depends on how many candles you want to make)
Glass bowl for double boiler
4 plastic bowls or measuring cups
Clothespins
Wooden Skewers
Wicks
Plastic eggs of any size
Natural Oil Spray
Syringes (I had about 4)
Spatula
Parchment Paper
Blue Painters Tape
Egg carton
Different powered herbs for dye ( I used Phycocyanin , Bilberry and Turmeric )
To get started let's get our double boiler set up using that glass bowl and put our beeswax in it to start melting.
IMPORTANT NOTE- you will need to buy special gear just for this project, because anything used that touches the beeswax will not clean and will be forever waxy. You do not want to wash this beeswax down your sink. I bought a glass bowl, plastic measuring cups for mixing color, spatula and wooden skewers for blending dye. I would just save these for any candle projects in the future!
As you set up your area, lay parchment paper down anywhere that you think wax will drip or be worked on. If any accidents happen you want that paper to protect your surfaces.
Turn your double boiler situation on medium heat and let the beeswax pastilles start melting. Keep stirring it with that spatula, it will take awhile to melt it down. I ended up using 4 pounds of Beeswax for the 3 candles you will see here in the blog. I definitely used more than I thought I would.
While your wax is melting you can choose your herbs that you will dye with and put a little powder in each of those plastic measuring cups or bowls. Put a skewer in each to mix the color later.
Now, get out your plastic Easter eggs, you will need a drill with a smaller bit. Drill a hole in the very top and bottom. This hole needs to be just big enough for the wick to run through and for your syringe to squirt the wax in later. Just be sure to not go too big with these. Once the holes are drilled, open the eggs up and pray the insides with natural oil. I used a canola oil spray. This will ensure that the wax releases later from your egg mold. Close the egg back up and take blue painter's tape and begin taping any holes in the sides of the egg that came that way. Run a long piece of wick from the top hole through the bottom hole of the egg and tape that bottom wick over to the side and seal the hole with painter's tape. You will also want to tape the sides of the egg really well with the tape to prevent the mold busting open while filling it with hot wax later. Check your egg over and make sure the bottom hole and any side holes are sealed and your seams are secured as well.
Once you wax is melted and reaches 160 degrees. you can dip some out and put in with your dye to mix. Do only one at a time, cause once you take it off the heat, you have to move quick to keep it hot and liquid enough to get through the syringe. Once you mix the color well, begin with the syringe and squirting the hot, colored wax into the top hole on the egg and filling it up!
Fill all the way to the tippy top! This part was a bit tricky, one of my eggs I got to the top, but the other two I noticed were not quite filled. Just watch that closely for that nice and rounded egg shape.
So I used three large plastic eggs that were flat on the bottom and stood up themselves. If you use little eggs ( which would be super cute and probably easier) you need to grab that egg carton to stabilize them through these steps.
Once they are filled take the clothespin and move the wick center and hold it there with the clothespin while it dries.
Let them dry several hours. Also pop them in the freezer for an hour or so, it will help them pop out of the mold even easier.
When releasing from the mold, go easy. The first side came off pretty easy for me, but the second side took a little coaxing.
You will need to let these cure in the open air for 7-10 days to let excess moisture evaporate.
Now, when you get ready to burn these, they need to be on a heat safe plate or board, etc... you might consider sand in jars and displaying and burning that way. You will want to keep in mind that the natural dyes we used will stain and you don't want to get that or the wax on anything important.
Have fun being creative with color and size and making an Easter Decoration that everyone is sure to remember!
Happy Spring and Happy Easter Friends!
