Candle Tails (see what I did there?)

Note: originally posted here on January 20, 2020.

I’ve been practicing more with candle making. Of all the things I’m doing, I think this one is going to take me the most practice to get good at it, but I’m determined to do so! I have some basic things that I’m going to do soon, but . . . I’m me, so I started out with more complicated things, because logic.

So, I finally got an induction burner and induction-capable pot, after discovering (last time I tried making sand candles) that my stove doesn’t get hot enough for it. So the first thing I did was make some mermaid tails, but the wax came out all white and pitted and stuff.

Also, I wanted to add some other color and didn’t have anything else to use, so I sprinkled little bits of the wax colorant flakes into the molds and . . . that definitely didn’t work.

So after consulting with my candle-making guru* I melted those back down and got them to a higher heat before pouring. I also got some silver pearl dust to sprinkle in. Now, I have to be careful to ONLY use this on the embeds and not in the candle itself, lest it clog the wick, but as a dusting for the mermaid tails it should (according to said guru) work fine.

*My father, who made gorgeous candles for many years, but is unable to now due to health restrictions.

I only sprinkled the silver pearl dust into half of the tail molds so that I could try them with and without. Unfortunately, for the same potential problem of clogging the wick, any that have pearl dust and don’t work out can’t be melted back down for further use. Well, they could, but I have to do some more research on filtering the wax and stuff.

While the wax was melting back down, and getting closer to 200 degrees (F) instead of just pouring as soon as it’s basically melted (which was my first and unsuccessful approach), I saved out two of the original ones to try to meld together to make one 3D tail. Since I’d only done a single pour, they were lower in the middle, but I didn’t want them as thick as 2 pours would result in, so I instead scraped down the sides to flatten it back out. (And also broke one in half. Hey, as long as I was working to put them together, I might as well try to melt that back together too, right?)

Unfortunately, as it turned out, a lighter isn’t hot enough for that, and I couldn’t figure out how to use my propane torch to that end on something so small. Also, both sides kept breaking at the tail. The result was . . . um, well, let’s just say it went back into the melting pot with the rest of them . . . .

The GOOD news is, the second attempt worked MUCH better, and the resulting tail is gorgeous! So even though I couldn’t meld two together and instead just tried to lay it somewhat flat-ish when putting it in the candle, I do love the results.

As for the candle itself, my first attempt at making a sand candle (which I legit just accidentally tried to type as “sandle” and now I want to make that a thing but everyone would think I was just misspelling “sandal”) didn’t work out because the wax has to be a minimum of 212 degrees (F) in order to properly adhere to the sand. I could only get the wax to 180* on my stove, and 200* on my induction burner. I have a couple other things I’m going to try to get the heat up higher, but it turns out even the induction burner might not be enough to get it there! I’m not ready to give up yet though. We’re getting closer! And I love how this candle came out, even if the sand isn’t as well adhered as I’d like it to be.

I also need some work on the 2nd pour – which is when you add a little extra wax to level the top out, because in the cooling process the wax sinks in the middle and stays higher on the edges. I poured a little too much (because I was trying to make sure it was thick enough for putting the embed in) and the result was the wax coming a little too high over the edge of the sand.

I also still need to seal the sand into the wax better by going over the outside with a propane torch. I have one, I’m just a little apprehensive about trying that yet. But since I won’t be selling this candle (since it’s still practice, and I want to see for myself how it burns) I’ll give it a shot sometime soon.

Meanwhile, here are the two candles (the one that only got to 180* and the one that got to 200* ) so you can see the difference of how the sand adhered based on different temperatures. (They both also have sand on the tops of them that I’ll need to remove before torching and then lighting, or, again, there’s the issue of a clogged wick.)

Hopefully my third attempt will work well, because I have SO many ideas of different designs I want to do with these, from waterfalls (my father made a huge one like that once, but I want to make small versions that can be priced lower and work in the home more easily) to mermaids sitting by pools to dragons lying atop their hoards to cars driving up mountains. So many ideas, so little time! But first I have to nail the process down really well so I can make them to quality standards.

Coming soon: adventures in jewelry making, including polymer clay, more resin practice, and some wire wrapping and solder practice. Until then, stay awesome, and happy pixie-ing!