Candle-making

I've always loved candles. Like a real fire, there is something timeless about them. Humans have been making candles in one form or another for many centuries, and despite the invention of electric lights they haven't lost their appeal. They provide a soft, gentle light and can scent a room as well, and watching one flicker and glow is very calming .



When I was a child my uncle brought me back one as a present from his holiday in Austria. I still have it now, blue and white with blue gentian flowers moulded on it. I was hooked and started to collect a few, and as a teenager had a small collection of rainbow, fruit-shaped, beeswax-rolled and flower-shaped candles. My family joked that I collected them, but would never light one.

Nowadays I still buy them, but it's the scent I love as well as the shape and colour, and I do light them (although I will admit that I do own some which are too pretty to light!). Inspired by these exquisite candles, I decided that I would make some of my own. I used to make them when I was a teenager, with a very limited kit of one saucepan, some wicks and wax pellets and one mould. It was quite messy, and I suspect that my mum was secretly relieved when I gave up.
So for Christmas this year Father Christmas very kindly brought me some basic candle-making items: moulds, wicks, dyes, essential oils and both soya flakes and beeswax pellets. I have decided to return to making my own, but this time I shall make coloured, scented ones. As the Christmas holiday and first day back at work were quite busy I knew I would have to wait a while before making them. That was mighty difficult because I've been quite excited about it, but on Sunday I had almost a whole day to myself and knew that it would be my designated candle-making day.



I got everything out, with newspaper to protect the work surfaces, and measured 500g of soya flakes into a bowl. I put it over a saucepan which was one third full of water and heated it up. Then I put the wicks into the jars and votive moulds, sticking them in place at the bottom with a tiny piece of rolled-up sticky tape. They needed to be held in place at the top too when the wax is poured in, so I used clothes pegs and pencils held together with elastic bands.



As the wax melted it needed to be stirred regularly. I chose soya instead of paraffin because it's a more natural product, it has a longer burning time and is easier to clear up. I melted it in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of hot water until it reached 170 degrees, and used a jam thermometer to check.

Now for the dye - which colour to choose? I'm in a pastel colours mood at the moment, so I chose light blue. I knew that it would be trial and error at first to find out how much to add, so erred on the side of caution, and only put a little in, chopping it into very tiny pieces first.



The molten wax turned blue quite quickly.



Then it was time to add a few of drops of essential oil. I've got a few oils, and chose to mix nutmeg and peppermint. I knew that these go well together because I once bought a pillow-spray which contained these two scents. I used about 6 drops of each one.



Having mixed it all together, I poured it carefully into the moulds and jars, making sure not to burn myself. At this point the wicks started to go a bit wobbly, so I worked hard to make them stand up straight.



Once I was happy with them, I washed up the bowl and spoon in hot soapy water. But I didn't want to stop there. Oh no, I wanted to make more - this was fun! So I melted some more wax flakes and added some lemon, and some lavender oil. This time I decided to keep the natural soy wax colour, so didn't add any dye. I made two candles, one in a glass candle holder, and one in a jar. But there was some left over, so I quickly hunted about and found a little egg cup. The size was just right, and I popped a wick in, filling it with the last of the wax. Phew - all done!

I left the candles at room temperature to set for a day. The colours turned out exactly as I wanted, which was very pleasing. Here they are in front of my first bunch of daffodils of the year!

They have a nice creamy, chalky appearance. I was especially pleased with the egg cup candle, and think it looks rather sweet.

The votives weren't keen to come out of their moulds, so I popped them in the freezer for a couple of hours, and they came out beautifully. One lost a bit of its edge, but otherwise they were fine.

I trimmed the wicks to about 1.5 cm.

For a first attempt I'm very pleased with my candles. Their scent doesn't seem very strong, but I'll wait until I burn them to see how scented they are.

I lit a lemon and lavender one and was delighted that it burned evenly and slowly. It wasn't as highly scented as I'm used to in bought ones, but there was a bit of a perfume. I shall have to experiment with future batches.

It really was easy to do, and I shall definitely make more now, and try different scents, colours and shapes. Can't wait!

A Few More Snowflakes

Now that January is here, I'm over the rich, dark colours of autumn and Christmas, and I long for white, pale blue, pale pink, lilac and grey. These light colours feel cleansing and refreshing after the over-indulgence of the festive season, and make me yearn for snowy, frosty days and blue skies. So I have decided that I would like to have some wintry sparkle in the house, and have been quietly crocheting some more of these pretty snowflakes in pastel colours.

After making silver and white ones at Christmas I bought some more sparkly Sirdar Ella yarn in pink, green, lilac and turquoise.



I also crocheted a couple in plain pale blue and pink cotton yarn.



Then I hung them on some pale organza ribbons.





I also crocheted several in a thick, woollen yarn which I've had for ages and feels almost handspun in texture. Some are a natural colour, and others a bluey-green.



I'm going to hang them up to catch the light.

 I spotted this fleece blanket in a shop recently and pounced on it as it was a real bargain. Used as an extra layer on our bed, the soft palette of lilac, pale pink and grey is very soothing and restful, and is just right for cold winter days.

For Christmas I was given a hank of this yarn, and am thinking about making a scarf for myself with it. It's a linen yarn in the softest, grey-blue and I can't wait to start it, but am trying to be strict with myself and finish J's crocheted blanket (yes, I'm afraid it's still in progress!).

Lastly, I'm still enjoying the last of the soft pink freesias which I bought for the new year, and they do smell heavenly, scenting our dining room.



I do like these light, uplifting colours around the house in winter. They provide a lovely contrast with any dark skies we may be experiencing, and remind me that the days really are getting longer and lighter, even if it's not very noticeable yet!

Looking Forward

I have been looking for signs of spring. Yes, I know that winter has only just begun, but looking forward to lighter days and new growth really helps to dispel my January gloom. We're almost all back at work, school and university, and getting back into the swing of things again this week after the relaxed pace of the Christmas holidays has taken some effort. The weather has been gloomy and quite wet. However, this afternoon the sun came out, and as soon as I got home I went straight into the garden just before it got dark to potter around and tidy up. My working day is spent indoors, and I was very keen to get some fresh air into my lungs and be outside. I was very pleased to see that in amongst the mud and dead-looking things were these...

Hooray! New shoots peeping out of the soil! Under ground the bulbs have been quietly doing what they do every year; swelling, sending down roots and pushing up leaves. They have a good way to go yet, but it's wonderful to see them.

Now that all our decorations are down and packed away for another year, I feel in need of some prettiness to replace the sparkle and tinsel (love that word). So I bought these little pots of bulbs from the local farm shop for the kitchen windowsill. This is part of my post-Christmas ritual every year, and makes me feel very happy whenever I catch sight of them, all lined up, fresh and green and full of promise.

The tiny Tete-a-Tete daffodils have started to bloom already.

I took them outside to photograph them against the blue of our kitchen wall. Aren't they wonderful?

We've got a while to go before the daffodils and other bulbs come out in the garden, but until then I am really enjoying them indoors, a little taste of colourful things to come.

Blowing Away The Cobwebs

In a bid to breathe some fresh air and stretch our legs we decided to go for a walk this afternoon. It's been dark, grey and damp for the last couple of days, and I am missing the sun. However the weather did not stand in our way, and we headed for a cycle path which is part of the Sustrans network called the Collier's Way. It's in the heart of the Somerset coalfields and follows old railway lines. The mines are no longer active, but the landscape is marked by the area's mining history. The light levels stayed very low all afternoon, and the views seemed bleached of colour. I enjoyed looking at the contours of the hills and valleys.

There was colour to be found if you looked for it. These vermillion rose hips really made an impact against their green background.

And there were masses of these berries on one bush.

These wonderful deep red stems came into their own on a day like this.

All along the path were ivy berries in shades of green

and black, dramatic and dark.

The area's rock is carboniferous and rich in fossils, and this iron waymarker sign had been cast with a fascinating relief of fossils and prehistoric sea creatures on it.

Winter enables trees and plants' structures to be seen and appreciated more clearly. This bare tree looked very sculptural as we passed by.

And this umbellifer was tightly closed like a little bird cage.

From a distance old man's beard, or wild clematis, looks very fluffy, but close up it's easy to see its seed heads. The seeds are all joined together with their long tails swirling behind them.

Teasels are frequently used as a design these days on prints and fabrics, and it's easy to see why, with their architectural shapes. There were several pairs of goldfinches nearby feeding on these teasels  (I also saw a pair of tiny wrens, but was unable to produce any decent photos of them - I'm not a great bird photographer, alas).

Sheep grazed peacefully in the fields around us.

These are creatures which I did find it fairly easy to photograph. They looked at us warily as we passed.

They all had a bright yellow dye on their fleeces, which was very eye-catching.

As we walked along the path there were large rocks with enamel signs on them bearing the names of old apple varieties: Laxton Superb, Egremont Russet, Ashmead's Kernel, Tydeman's Late Orange. Apple trees have been planted along the cycleway to mark the depletion of Somerset apple and pear orchards, as well as representing self-seeded trees, grown from apple cores thrown out of the windows of bygone steam trains.

Our walk was nearing its end now and we passed an old bright red Royal Mail post box set into the wall of a terrace of cottages. I have a fondness for these, and am always pleased to see one that's still in use.

The light was failing now, and it was time to go home before the gloom turned into darkness.

Despite the cold, and dreary weather it was good to blow the cobwebs away on our first walk of the new year. Here's to many more!