Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Category: Candle Making

Shed Some Light

It's a Christmas tradition in our house for the girls to make presents for all those lovely grandparents, uncles and aunties who buy them gifts each year for their birthdays and Christmas. Over the years they have made bookmarks, paintings, aprons and reusable bags.

This year the decision of what to make was easy. A few months ago Miss Eleven bought a candle making kit from a supermarket and we all loved the candles she made. It helped that I already had essential oils on hand from my organic perfume making days at Legato.

We've done a lot of candle making over the years using beeswax from my father's bee hives as well as beekeeping suppliers. There's something magical about the golden glow and rich smell of honey wafting through the room.

But you know me, I love experimenting and playing with new materials. That thrill of discovery and feeling of newness fills my soul with gladness. It's the perfect antidote to the monotony of lockdown!

The biggest difference for these candles is that they have been make using soy wax. For years I've been anti soy wax for no real good reason except a residual dislike of soy products in general. After reading about how beeswax can contain pesticides etc (which makes sense if you think about it and from now on I'm only buying organic) I was much more open to trying soy. Of course the challenge now is to find organic, non GMO soy!

For these candles I bought some glass jars at the two dollar shop and the container in the photo from the homes wares section in a department store. My favourite find was the drinking glasses on sale for a dollar each. I'm going to gift those candles and it makes me happy that the glass can be used once the candle has been burned.

What are you making for Christmas gift giving this year?

December 10, 2021
My Morning Routine

For the last month I've been getting up early before the rest of the house wakes to write a poem each day as part of the Dirty Thirty challenge run by Abdulraman Hamoud on Facebook.

I light one of these beeswax candles and then write in this gorgeous leather journal. I made both the candles and the journal and it feels really special to sit down and use both of them. Having beautiful, handmade tools lifts my spirits. And there's a lovely sense of pride and satisfaction when you can use something you have made yourself.

It's become something of a peaceful ritual with which to start the day. It may not be the twenty pages of random writing as suggested by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist's Way but it is writing when my brain is still halfway between awake and asleep. It's been interesting to see what I can come up with in response to the prompts. When I've left writing a response until later in the day it has been much harder. My brain feels sluggish and there are too many distractions to concentrate fully on writing.

Having carved out this quiet time for myself sets me up to take on the rest of the day and whatever it may throw at me. When everything goes pear-shaped as it all too often does, I have the joy of knowing I have already done something just for me. It's a priceless gift.

April 30, 2020
Shine A Little Brighter Now

In the midst of all the packing, sorting, moving and unpacking I've managed to find a little bit of time to do some Christmas craft. I love giving and receiving hand made gifts. They have such a beautiful energy to them.

These little beeswax candles in a jar were inspired by some I saw in a shop. I was wondering how I could manage to buy one when I had an a-ha moment. Hmmm, I've already got candle wick in the cupboard. And in the kitchen there's a box filled with the candle ends I couldn't bear to throw out. I know – I can make them myself!

I was pretty chuffed with myself for figuring out how to get the wax to stay in place without an aluminium tab (I didn't have any and don't really like the idea of them). I used a thin strip of beeswax, made it soft and warm in my hand, attached it to the bottom of the jar and then poked the wick into it. Voila! I can't wait to give them to my friends.

The wonderful thing about being a craft hoarder is you have exactly what you need when you feel like making something. When I was sorting through my box of beeswax and wick, I discovered these cute little beehive silicon moulds. I had bought them ages ago and forgotten all about them.

My twelve year old daughter had a wonderful time melting the wax from her grandfather's beehives to pour into a beehive mould. She's going to give him the candle for Christmas so he can use it for his beekeeping.

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I'm going to be taking a little break over Christmas to settle into my new place and enjoy cups of tea out on my new deck. I'm looking forward to unpacking all the books and getting our home library organised. I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday, however you celebrate and I'll see you back here in the new year with more adventures in making, writing and dreaming.

Indrani

xxx

December 20, 2018
Rolling Along

How good does beeswax smell? When I'm rolling candles I just want to eat the sheets of wax! They smell so divine. If I can't eat them I can at least enjoy their heavenly honey perfume when I burn my candles. One of my favourite things about the shorter winter days is the excuse to light candles. I love the soft, golden light they give. It's gentle on the eyes and soothing to my soul.

I had planned on making these with the girls and indulging in a spot of craftyr. They, however, had other plans and are busy taking apart the lounge room couch and building a cubby. That's the other fun winter past time around here – cubby building!

So I'm sitting here alone at my rather beaten up kitchen table (it's been very well loved as you can see!), rolling candles. This year I'm playing with different wicks. I'm using a square braid number two wick. I've torn the beeswax sheets in half width ways and I'm experimenting with using two or three pieces. I'll burn the candles and see which candle works the best. I've been using a thin wick for years and I suspect it isn't the right size for the short and squat candles I like to make. I end up with bits of wax dribbling everywhere and the candle burning unevenly. The girls love it though – so much fun to be had with wax dribbles!

Update! I got distracted in the middle of making candles by my book (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shafer) and sitting on the remnants of my couch with a cup of my favourite liquorice tea. When I came back to the kitchen, Phoebe came with me and made a candle. Whee! A little bit of craftyr. Just what I was looking for today!

If you're interested in rolling your own candles this winter, I get my sheets of beeswax from a beekeeping place and the wick from either Riot Art and Craft (they only have one size of wick these days) or Stacks of Wax in Sydney. Stacks of Wax have everything you could ever need for candle making including an enormous range of wicks as well as lots of ready made candles you can buy.

Happy candle making!

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June 24, 2017
Craft Explosion

There's been a craft explosion at my place. Beeswax candle dipping, leather pouch sewing, weed foraging, salve making, needle felting and whittling. And that's just the last couple of weeks!

This time of year is the start of the making season for me. It's the time of year when the weather is drawing me indoors and telling me to slow down. My desk calls me to sit down and make. At the same time, my brain fires and fizzes with creativity and new ideas. I get the urge to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard!) and share my thoughts and experiences. My hands itch to hold something and create.

I want to feel raw materials in my hands and turn them into something new. I want to sink into the process of making. To sift through the clatter and chatter and get to the part where I'm immersed in the process. To that place where the repetitive nature of craft feels like home and soothes my soul.

True to form, I'm doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that and I love it. I admire people who can pick one craft and master it but it's just not me. There's so many cool things to make, crafts to learn and tools to buy. Why stick with one?

May 4, 2017
Candle Dipping

If you're looking for a quick craft fix, don't pick candle dipping! It is most definitely a long and slow process that needs lots of time and patience.

Last week I was feeling a bit out of sorts, the girls were cranky and I needed something to bring us all out of our funk. I'd been flicking through past issues of the wonderful magazine, Taproot and had come across a tutorial on dipping candles with kids. The girls and I have hand rolled candles from sheets of beeswax every autumn for the last few years but they don't always burn well. I'm not sure if it’s the wick we're using or the hand rolling not being tight enough.

It was a lovely day and I thought that I would quickly make some candles and then head out to the park for a play before their grandparents visited and I had to cook dinner. Ha! I had completely forgotten how long it takes to melt beeswax over a double boiler on the stove. If you're wondering how long – the answer is forever. Especially if you have a big, wide jar.

The girls really got into the process of dipping the candles in turn, topping up the jar with more beeswax and wiping down the walls of the kitchen. Six hours of boiling water meant that the walls and ceiling were dripping even with the window wide open and the fan going. This is definitely a craft for warmer weather.

If you want to have a go I'd recommend waiting for warm weather (but not too hot or the house will become an oven) or going outside over an open fire. Set a timer so that you remember to top up the water in the saucepan and don't burn the bottom (we almost did but luckily the smoke alarm went off and warned us in time). Use a tall thin jar so you don't have to wait so long for the wax to melt. Pick a home day and allow lots of time. It's a good idea to have other things to do while waiting for the beeswax to melt.

There’s nothing better than burning beeswax candles to light a room. The candle brightens the room with it’s soft, cosy glow and the incredible scent lifts the spirits and warms the heart. I just adore the smell of beeswax drifting through the house on gloomy winter days. The good news is we now have sixteen lovely hand dipped beeswax candles to use this winter. The only problem is, they're too precious to burn!

April 24, 2017
Learning To Make Do With What You’ve Got

I am a huge fan of making do with what I've got. It makes me really happy to be able to use the tools and materials I already have on hand to make the things that I need. As much as I love doing it, making do still isn't my default when it comes to making. My first instinct is to head to the net and find the materials or tools I need.

That's exactly what happened on the weekend when I needed to make beeswax tea light candles for our Winter Solstice lanterns. I jumped online to find a retailer selling the materials I needed. Naturally there was no-one in my local area and because I had left it to the last minute I couldn't order anything online and wait for the postie to deliver.

What to do? Stop focussing on the end product (beeswax tea light candle in a glass container) and start thinking about what I needed (candle for paper lantern). Once I started thinking about what I needed it was easier to see how what I already had could be used to make what I needed. The star shaped ice cube mould I had used a few years ago to make candles for Christmas gifts would do just nicely.

June 25, 2015
Beeswax Tea Light Candles

I love using candles when the days are short and it gets dark early. The smell of beeswax in the air and the golden light of the candles always lifts my spirits. Alice over at Paris Bourke inspired me to make these beeswax candles using a silicon mould.

I've been hand rolling beeswax candles from sheets of beeswax for years. And I've always saved the little odds and ends you get when the candle has burnt out. They were stashed in a box, waiting to be used. I couldn't bear to waste all that beeswax goodness.

Beeswax Tea Light Candles

Silicon Mould

Needle

Cotton wick

Beeswax odds and ends

To make these candles I've used a silicon mould – the kind used for ice cubes. You can find loads of different shapes on line. I loved the shape of these little stars.

Use a skewer or heavy duty needle to poke a hole in the centre bottom of each cavity.

Cut the wicks into lengths. I have about 0.5 cm poking out the top and have the wick long enough to almost reach the bottom of the candle.

To insert the wick I threaded it through a needle and then poked the needle through the bottom of the mould. It was a little fiddly, so be patient.

The beeswax I melted on the stove, Bain Marie style. I like to use a solid glass jug – it makes pouring into the moulds a breeze. I now have two jugs – one for candle making and one for confectionary. Once you've put beeswax in a container it's really tricky to get clean again.

Put water into the bottom saucepan. Bring to the boil.

Pop your beeswax into the jug. Put it in the top saucepan and place over the boiling water.

The beeswax takes ages to melt (around 15 minutes depending on how much you have in the jug), so be patient and make sure you check the level of the water in the bottom saucepan so it doesn't go dry.

When you pour the melted beeswax into the mould be sure to pour around the wick so you don't flatten it. As it cools, it shrinks a little so be sure to fill right to the top.

Once cooled, pop out of the moulds and enjoy your lovely beeswax candles. You can even use them in your solstice lanterns.

June 8, 2015