Made beeswax candles with one landmate late on solstice eve, after a several hour song jam with another (working on ‘O death’ from Songcatcher). Such a beautiful, delicious, nourishing treasure of a night. These candle babies got infused with cottonwood resin & rolled in yarrow flowers, rosemary, juniper, & cottonwood buds. Most are for gifting, but we’re also slowly moving toward no-electric-light in the main house.
After being on the move for a season, and before that living somewhere I didn’t intend to stay, it feels intensely good to have a holiday with friends on land that I can actually feel connection to. The cottonwood buds are a sweet tie to friends on the west coast, and the yarrow, rosemary, and juniper are big local allies in boundary holding and protection. The wax came from local bees. I love feeling the interweaving of plants and other beings that feeds into my life & prayers, knowing that the nectar of local flowers colored the wax, that the resin from the cottonwood made sticky a friend’s fingers a continent away. Knowing that miles of flight over the blue ridge mountains made the wax possible, that all those visions and moments and reaching toward the sun get twined together to help me remember how to grow brighter with the season and take rest as it comes, how to surround myself with strong, supple edges. We’re crafting new traditions here in the wake of turbulent family histories and with the scraps of community we can knit together safely, & it is such a fucking blessing.
So I had a whole bunch of left over wax building up from all the candles I burn and I noticed a few of the colours I had where those of the Asexual pride flag.
So here it is, I attempted to recycle the wax into a new pride candle for myself!
Which ever orientation you feel you fit under don’t let anyone tell you you’re not valid, and if they do, burn them. :)
An easy way to reuse old candles or create your own herb-infused candles.
Ingredients:
Potholders / oven mitts
Newspapers
Wax
Wicks and wick holders
Cardboard rolls
Dyes (optional)
Fragrance (optional)
Toothpicks / chopsticks / cotton swabs
To Begin:
Ensure that your workspace is covered entirely in newspapers, so the wax will come off easier. Take the cardboard tubes and hot glue them to a flat cardboard surface. Ensure there are no gaps between the roll and the flat part when you glue them, otherwise the wax will run everywhere.
Fill a pot about ¼ way with water and set it on to boil. In the pot, place a disposable container that you will use only for wax. Keep an eye on the wax to ensure that it does not get too hot and catch fire. Once the wax is melted, you can add dye and mix it and add fragrance as well. Let the wax cool for a few minutes and pour a bit into the bottom of your cardboard mold to place the wick in the center. Allow it to cool completely before you pour more wax in to make sure the wick is set in the center of the candle. If it is not centered, the candle will burn strangely or not burn at all.
Once the wick is set, use two toothpicks tape together to make the wick stand up straight while you pour the rest of the wax into the mold. Then, add whatever herbs you’d like and leave it to set overnight. The next day, peel off the cardboard and you’re done – you have homemade candles.
During the hurricane, when we lit our candles my eyes and nose-watered continiously, the scents in them were overwhelming. I vowed to make my own after that experience. I researched soy candle recipes on the web and was turned-off by the amount of equipment and contradictory information from one website to the next. Its candles not rocket science, I just wanted an easy project that I can manage in a small NYC apartment not a lab. This is what I came up with for practical white candles.
Equipment you will need:
5lb bag of soy wax flakes (I bought all these supplies from Amazon)
24 4oz. Ball Jars
Measuring cup with a pour spout (Pyrex measuring cup)
50 yards of wick
24 pennies
Toothpicks or any object that you can drape a wick over the top of the jar
Double boiler (I used a large pasta pot, pasta strainer and oven proof dish)
Essential oil (optional)
Step 1: cut the wick about 6-7 inches and tie a penny to one end to act as your anchor. Line up the jars, place a toothpick (or any object of choice) across the mouth of the jar, drop the penny to the center and wind the top end of the wick over the toothpick. Now you are ready for wax to be poured in. Make sure your jars are on a heat resistance surface, where you can let them rest.
Step 2: boil water in the double boiler and then reduce it to a simmer. I used a large pasta dish with a strainer, on the strainer I placed a round casserole dish full of soy flakes. This set-up makes it easy to remove the casserole dish once the wax melts, just lift the strainer out of the pot, and perfect for making multiple batches. Keep the water level a few inches below the level of the submerged casserole dish so that no water mixes with the wax. The wax melts fairly quickly and is ready pour into the candles – use a smaller instrument with a pour spout to dip into the casserole dish and transfer to the jars.
Step 3: scent can be added once the wax cools but not before the candle hardens. If you notice that bubbles form add wax to the surface to make it look even.
This is so easy, perfect for gifts, the soy wax is vegan friendly, inexpensive and lasts longer than paraffin. I highly recommend this for a fun craft project.
