Sunday, December 12, 2010

Candle Question & More Flair

Look what I found at Value Village today:
Four matching side plates to go with my six English "Flair" dinner plates! There were six side plates there, but two were in such grim condition that I left them behind. I don't have a "no plate left behind" policy. Tee hee. I paid $2.49 for the four plates. Sweet!

Here's a question for my crafty friends out there. Can you melt down old candles to make new candle wax? I'm kicking off our "Early Settlers in Upper Canada Unit" with some Christmas pioneer crafts. I was hoping to let the kids dip candle wicks into the liquid wax to make hand dipped candles, like I did at Pioneer Village when I was a kid. I bought the wicks at an art supply store today, but the wax was way more expensive than I'd bargained for. They had a huge slab for $34.00 and a smaller slab for $19.99. I was thinking of asking the kids to bring in old candles from home and I'll melt them down in a double boiler.

What do you think? We're also going to make pomanders, write on tea-stained paper with feather quills, and make ginger cookies. I want our learning to be as hands-on as possible. Cheers,
Erin

7 comments:

  1. I don't see why you couldn't reuse the wax. There could be an issue if you mix wax types(beeswax, soy, petroleum-based wax)...but I'm not completely sure.

    Good luck! Sounds like a lot of fun!

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  2. Love your plates. I'm not sure about the candles, but I would think you could melt old one's.

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  3. Yeah, you can melt old ones. Google the instructions or tips.

    Where did you buy the wick from? I have wanted to make candles & had only bought some wick off line from eBay.

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  4. Just thought of other stuff we did up north at some campsite years ago...we were "voyageurs", which likely pre-dated pioneers? We made tea from cedar leaves(quite drinkable)and bannock(tasted like flat old bread). Have fun with your kids!

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  5. Yeah for the plates! Love them.

    For making candles, you can buy paraffin wax at the supermarket, it's much cheaper. It is sold to seal mason jars when you're canning, but you can make candles with it. You can buy colouring squares and scent squares at craft stores and you just need to put a little of those, it goes a long way. (Although I don't think scented candles are too pioneer like!)

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  6. Haha! Love your "no plate left behind" quote! I don't follow that policy either when searching for Pyrex ;)

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  7. I have melted candles down to make new ones (much to the Pal's wonder). Boil a saucepan of water, and melt the wax in an old tin can (like one tomatoes or beans have come in, well washed). It works quite well that way!

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I'm a slightly off-beat Toronto-area teacher who enjoys writing and photography. I come from a family of collectors and now I'm dragging my own family around to yard sales. It's just a bit of fun. Enjoy the scenes.