Kirstie's Kandles

My absolute new fave TV programme has to be Kirstie's Homemade Home! ( http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/kirstie-s-homemade-home/ ) Not only is she seemingly building and refurbing my dream house but she is so inspiring! She is making and creating things that, actually, I think I could do as well! Maybe not as professional as would be preferable, but it has interested me in other avenues of crafty finance. In particular - making candles.

In episode 2 Kirstie learnt how to make various candles - the ones I especially liked were container candles made in china cups. ( http://www.channel4.com/4homes/design-style/how-to-guides/how-to-make-candles-intro-09-04-21_p_1.html ) By the way, during this post I am aware that I may end up sounding like Kirstie's personal fan club / stalker, but I love her!

It looked so easy, so simple, and so fab for my whole 'recycled' craft thing. But I do think it will take a lot of practice. The problem with me is, when I get excited about an idea I have to do it NOW, regardless of what other things I have on the boil! Steve is going to kill me, our dinning room just keeps growing ever more into a junk shop and I have a horrible feeling it's not going to stop. Todays additions to the pile include these:


This is a box of shot glasses and a couple of china cups which I aquired for free. Since watching this week, I have been desperate to have a go. I have researched on the internet costs etc of wax and wicks, and its all very reasonable - this is assuming that the wax melts down to a decent quantity.

I thought these shot glasses would be a good way to test out my ability to create something functional and pretty. There are a few quite pretty glasses in the box anyway that should mask my crapy initial attempts!


There are also a couple of really pretty china cups, granted they have a couple of chips on the rim, but surely this is just another reason to recycle them into something useful?!!

















As I have got my containers, this morning I thought I would go to the craft shop. There is a fab art store on the Chester Road, Boldmere (The Vesey) which has framed many of our prints and is a veritable aladdin's cave a crafty goodness. However, they didn't have any wax or wicks. The lovely assisstant had recently uncovered a box of 'random' bits which happened to have some candle dye. As it had been there some time, she let me have the dye for 75p! I liked her a lot actually, she had a similar aversion to Hobbycraft as I have! She too thinks they are vaguely evil and "not very nice!"

So I have my containners, I have some dye, I am still missing the all important ingredients of fire and fuel! I am thinking, to stick with my theme, I might go round the chairty shops this afternoon and see what tatty, old bits of candle I can pick up. However, I think it is only right I actually buy new wicks and wick holders! Not entirely sure I can get away with using pre-used wicks, it could be a unique selling point . . . but I doubt it!

There are some really fab websites with steps and advise for making candles, the best type of wax wick etc for the candle you want. This one I find especially good:

http://www.candletech.com/candle-making-basics/how-to-make-container-candles/

For me, as I am not particularly good with the whole maths thing, the most difficult part will be working out exactly which type and size of wick I will need. This is a good starting point I think:

http://www.happynews.com/living/create/guide-choosing-wick.htm

However, I think this is going to take me a little time to perfect! I shall let you know how I get on with my experiments!