Wednesday, 17 November 2010

Making Gel Candles

Making Gel CandlesLearn the artful skill of candle making in this exciting new DVD from the West ladies - Vicki, Jasmine, Hannah, and CeCe. This creativity-inspiring film is full of helpful instruction, practical tips, and fun-filled insight into the unique art of candle making.

From distinctive and beautiful glow lamps, twisted candles, decorative ornaments, basic seven-inch candles, and much more, this DVD is filled with a range of candle making activities sure to encourage warmth and creativity for your family.

Bring the joy of candling making into your home with the southern hospitality and homestead charm the West ladies bring to this entertaining and instructive film. The Art of Candle Making is full of special techniques, artistic flair, and family unity sure to cultivate beauty, joy, and ambience in your home.

Price: $39.95


Click here to buy from Amazon

Tuesday, 16 November 2010

Making Unity Candles




Unity candles are often a very important part of traditional wedding ceremonies. This candle is a symbol of the union both families. The ceremony involves the bride and groom each lighting a taper candle with a large column candle in the middle. Once they have lit their taper candles, the bride and groom light the column with the flames form the tapers.





It is very simple to make these beautiful candles. By making them, you can personalize the message the message on the column candle for those getting married. The message can be a poem, Biblical scripture, or even a photo of the couple getting married.





Making the taper candles is very simple. It involves the hand dipping process. You will dip the two wicks over and over again in the hot wax until the taper candles are the desired width. After they have completely cooled you can trim the wick to ¼ inch of the top of the candle.





To make the column candle you will need to use a candle mold. Simply heat the wax and pour it into the mold until it completely cools. Prior to pouring the wax into the mold you will need to insert the wick from the bottom of the mold. Cut the wick several inches longer so that you can tie it to a pencil or other object. This will keep the wick centered while the candle is cooling.





After the column candle has cooled, you can place a poem, saying, photo, or even a wedding invitation to the candle using double stick tape or a glue gun. For a beautiful effect, consider cutting the attachment in an oval shape using the scissors that will leave a ridge all the way around the attachment.





To add beauty and appeal to the unity candles, you can make bows for them out of the wedding colors. For best results, use a piece of wire for each candle. Twist the wire in the front gently so you don’t damage the candles but enough to hold it securely in place. Don’t worry about the wire being seen as the beautiful bows will cover it up.





You will want to find some very pretty taper candle holders for these precious unity candles. Generally, the column candle will sit on a matching flat candle holder, similar to a small plate.





With the overall expense of a wedding, creating your own unity candles or allowing a friend or family member to do so as a gift will save you plenty. There are many great books available in craft stores and some bridal shops that provide step by step instructions for creating your own unity candles. The internet also offers great ideas and tips for making the process fun. Creating quality candles doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult.





The unity candle ceremony is an important part of many wedding ceremonies. You can provide the bride and groom with a wonderful trio of candles for their ceremony that they will treasure forever. The ability to add a personalized attachment to the column candle is a great incentive for making them yourself. Making additional column candles for the parents of the bride and groom or the wedding party is a great gift idea as well. You can place them in gift bags with bows that match the colors of the wedding.


Candle Making Basics




The use of candles for light and heat is known to have existed in ancient times. The remains of candles have been found in the caves of France. It is believed that cavemen used them while painting and etching on the walls. It is believed those candles where made out of animal fat. The Egyptians used candles as well by dripping beeswax onto leave stems. The burning process of a candle involves the four basic elements of matter which are solids, liquids, gas, and plasma.





Today candle making is a fun hobby or craft. For some, it is a very profitable business venture. Candle making provides you with they ability to create wonderful designs and crafts out of your candles. There is no limit to the shapes, sizes, and colors you can make your candles in. A candle is a device to provide light or fragrance. Candles have become very popular for the wonderful aromas more than for their ability to produce light. Some candles give off a popular smell such as vanilla or jasmine. Others smell like a chocolate cake or cinnamon rolls.





The body of a candle is generally made of paraffin wax. It can also be made out of beeswax. Paraffin wax is a natural wax that comes from plants. This wax can be purchased from Petroleum Refinery or the Specialty Wax Processor. Beeswax is also considered a natural wax, and is taken from honeybees. This is the substance the bees use to construct their honeycombs. A wick is placed in the center of the wax before it dries. The wick is made of cotton fibers that have been braided together. The wick is very thin, but also very powerful. Sometimes candle makers will use a wick that is wider than normal to increase the size of the flame.





Safety is a very important part of candle making. The temperature of the hot wax can result in severe burns. There is also the risk of fire. Make sure your candle making area is set up properly and that you have a fire extinguisher in the area. Clean up spills quickly as they will become very slick, leading to falls if you walk across them.





To make candle making fun instead of frustrating, start will making simple candles. This is a great opportunity for you to discover what works well with your set up and gives you the chance to make necessary changes. Initially, work at implementing good safety habits and melting your wax at the proper temperatures. You will also want to experiment with your cooling process. Once you have these areas down, you will start to relax and the process will become more natural to you. This is the right time to start experimenting with dyes, scents, and shapes for your candles.





The candle making process is easy to follow if you take your time and learn from your mistakes. Those who are impatient and take multitasking to an extreme will most likely not enjoy the art of candle making. However, it is very enjoyable by those who have plenty of time to take with the process and who enjoy creating things. Candle making supplies aren’t expensive so use the best you can. This will also help ensure your candles form well and burn properly.


Monday, 15 November 2010

Ajello Candles




The motto of the Ajello Candle Company is “It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness”. This candle making company has been in business since 1775. The business has been family owned for seven generations. The candles from Ajello’s are well known for their beauty and quality. While they make more candles now than in 1775, their dedication to quality and to customers has never changed.





The Ajello Candle Company was founded by Rafael Ajello, an Italian painter. He was also a beekeeper, so he tried his hand at using bees wax to create candles. He worked hard to create a formula that worked well. The formula, combined with his outstanding artistic ability, lead to the birth of the Ajello Candle Company. In 1785, the company earned the honor of creating all the candles for the Vatican. He and his wife ran the business, keeping their children involved in the processes from an early age. As time went on, their children and grandchildren kept the business running as well as passed the family business on to their children.





By 1862, the company had established itself as a leader among the candle making industry. They had also added perfumes and many colors to their line of outstanding candles. The decided to extend the business to Manhattan, New York. In both places, the business prospered. Kings and aristocrats in Italy wanted the services of the Ajello Candle Company. They designed candles for weddings, funerals, and ceremonies. They made the candles for the inauguration of the King of Spain in 1876, Pope Pius IX in 1878, and Pope Leo in 1902. Hollywood stars and rich people in Beverly Hills California wanted the candles from the Ajello Candle Company as well. Candles were also ordered by President Roosevelt, Charles Lindbergh, and Rudolph Valentino.





In 1922, the Ajello Candle Company made a memorial candle for their deceased friend Enrico Caruso. This candle was 18 feet tall and weighed more than a ton. It is estimated this candle could burn 24 hours a day for 1,800 years before running out of wax. This enormous memorial candle remains the largest one ever made in the world. Each year it is lit twice to honor the day Enrico Caruso was born and the day he died.





The Ajello Candle Company continued to grow and sells were well beyond anticipated both in Italy and the United States. In 1953 the company was asked to create 2,200 candles for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. The company was honored to meet the request, and had all the candles ready in six months. The Ajello Candle Company was approached to be bought out, but refused. The family wanted their candle business to remain just that, not a major corporation.





Despite the creative efforts of the Ajello Candle Company, they were not able to meet the demand for their candles in 1965 during the blackout in New York City. The age of computers has found the Ajello Candle Company offering candles via the internet. Ironically, as Rafael Ajello worked around the clock to make candles for this need, his wife was giving birth to their child at a hospital scrambling to find candles for her room.





The Ajello Candle Company is still going strong today, offering quality candles that are beautiful as well as made of the best quality products. These candles can be purchased in many specialty stores throughout the world as well as on the internet in the comfort of our homes. This candle making business has spanned many generations, yet continues to hold the traditions and values of Rafael Ajello who started this business more than two centuries ago.





Anyone who has access to the internet should take a look at www.ajellocandles.com. Your breath will be taken away at the gorgeous candles there. I have never seen such beautiful wedding candles or unique decorating candles. I have seen a lot of candles, and I was very impressed. While Ajello Candle Company has made many custom candles for celebrities and royalty, they are very willing to do it for you as well. Simply select what you want and they will provide you with the best quality candles ever made.


Jump Start Your Candle Making Hobby With Candle Making Kits


Ready to start making your own candles, but you just don't have the time to research all of the steps, types of candle waxes, wicks before you begin making your first candle? Don't despair and give up on your new found hobby. Candle supply manufactures have started offering candle making kits.

The kit comes with all of the necessary tools and supplies to begin making your first candle today. There are many different types of candle making kits available. From kits for adults to kits for children. Always supervise you kids when they are making a candle, they will be working with hot wax that they can easily burn themselves.

Here are some of the more popular kits to consider when selecting your first kit.

Gel Candle Making Kit

Gel candles have become very popular because the gel wax is clear. You can get very creative with your gel candle and embed all sorts of colorful items that make your candle uniquely yours. Be cautious that the stuff you select to embed in the candle does not burn up while the gel wax is hot.

I once saw gel candle that looked like an aquarium. The candle was cast in a clear glass container. At the bottom of the candle was had a sandy brown look to it. The middle part was colored a light blue to give it a water like look to it. They even put a metal fish in the candle! It was set off center so that it would not interfere with the burning of the candle.

Look for a kit that contain at least five pounds of gel wax, wicks with metal plate attached to the bottom, three to four different fragrances and one dye color.

Soy Candle Kits

Soy candles are becoming every popular because when they are burned they produce very little soot and smoke. Soy wax is made from soybeans. Thus they are considered environment friendly and a sustainable candle making product.

Look for a kit that contain at least two pounds of soy candle wax, 1/2 dozen wicks, two different fragrances and one dye color.

Paraffin Candle Kits

Most commercially manufactured candles are made from paraffin wax. The wax is refined from crude oil. Paraffin candles have a tendency to smoke and produce more soot especially if the candle has a high fragrance load or a lot of dye in it.

Look for a kit that contain at least five pounds of wax, pillar candle molds, a dozen or more pre tabbed wicks, four different fragrance oils and three different dyes.








Browse the local hobby shops and the internet and you will find a lot of different specialty candle making kits available. Candle making doesn't need to be a difficult and complex hobby. These candle kits make it very easy to get started. In next to no time you will be show casing your lovely hand crafted candles to family and friends.

Once you have gotten comfortable in making candles from a kit, extend your skills by learning how to make scented candles by visiting http://www.candlemakinghome.com.