Understanding the Candle

When you look at a candle, you don’t always realize the complexity of the processes working behind the scenes.

Candles are comprised of a mass of fuel which is intended to feed a flame, and a wick which contains the flame and balances the amount of fuel it takes in. A candles body can be comprised of the following substances…

Gel - a mixture containing mineral oil and resin
Beeswax - a natural byproduct of the honey collection process
Paraffin - This is a byproduct of the manufacture of petroleum
Stearin - This is a substance that is created using palm waxes
Tallow - rendered animal fat which is more expensive than most modern alternatives
Plant waxes including carnauba, bayberry and soy.

Generally the process of creating a candle is fairly simple. One of the fuels mentioned above is melted down into liquid form. Then you have to do one of three things.

1. The fuel is poured into a mold, and turned into a pillar candle
2. The container used to hold the fuel is a flame resistant material, which is often decorated in such a way as to enhance the inherent beauty of the flame
3. The wick is dipped repeatedly into the fuel to create a drip taper candle.

You can add dye to teh materials while its being made to change the color of the finished product. This is most often done by adding an aniline-based dye to the body of the candle.

A candle can take on a specific scent if the right oils are added to the mix. In more expensive candles, natural scents can be added using essential oils. However scents can occasionally cause a decorative candle to burn less purely, which may result in ghosting.

Technically speaking, a candle produces 13 lumens of light, and about 40 Watts of heat. These numbers however are subject to change based on the make up of the candle, and how cleanly it burns. By comparison, a light bulb can produce 500 lumens of light while consuming the same amount of fuel.

Simple Ways to Make Jewelry

Easy Jewelry To Make

When you are shopping, have you ever wondered if you could make that wonderful piece of jewelry?  The answer is, yes!  You can create your own accesories.  Getting started in making jewelry, is really easy and enjoyable.  Though really fancy jewelry will take more time to learn, getting started is really easy and fun.  Just like riding a bike, making fancy jewelry will be an easy skill to master.

Easy Beading

In the video above you can see how fast you can make fancy bracelets.   Beading is a very fast way to create fantastic jewelry to wear. Anyone can make these bracelets.  They are simple and fun.

Creating a bracelet is simple.  You carefully loop one end of the wire.  String fabulous beads onto the wire in your desired order.  Then you loop the other end.  Finishing off the bracelet is simple, you cut off any excess wire on either end of the bracelet.

Begin With Very Little Money

One of the benefits of making jewelry like this is that the only tools you need are memory wire cutters and a pair of pliers. For the actual bracelets, you only need memory wire and beads.  Though you can choose to use fairly fancy beads, often you can make a bracelet for less than $5.

Turn Your Hobby Into A Business

After discovering how fun it is to make your own jewelry, you may want to make it into a business.  Jewelry businesses can be extremely profitable.

Extra Steps For Jewelry Businesses

Three things that every jewelry business can benefit from are: packaging, marketing and selling.  These three steps can be very simple.  Packaging can simply be a nice bag or box.   Marketing can be telling friends and relatives, advertising on Ebay or joining Etsy.  Selling can be done on your own website, on Ebay or at craft fairs.  Alternately, you can hire out some or all of these tasks.

We hope you enjoy making great jewelry and have lots of fun!

Tips to Making Bee’s wax Candles

Candle lovers all over the world adore bee’s wax candles because of the honey-like fragrance and the beautiful golden color. Decorative candles made of bee’s wax are also said to be more relaxing than paraffin candles. Beeswax candles are easy to make. Keep reading to find out how you can effortlessly craft your very own beeswax candles.

If you’re crafting candles out of beeswax, you need to know a few things about this candle making ingredient. Bees produce an extremely sticky raw ingredient called beeswax. Enterprising beekeepers sell unfiltered bee’s wax taken from hives in hobby stores.

If you have previous relationships with honey harvesters, you can get the pure ingredient in bulk from them. Remember that you have to patiently await the next batch of bee’s wax that the bees produce before buying again. The honeybee workers are still creating your bee’s wax so be patient!

Bee’s wax is made available over the net and even in small stores.

But it’s rather fun to imagine how hard these bees work to make our bee’s wax for us! If you’ve ever used bee’s wax candles, the first thing you will notice is how clean it burns. Some candles sputter or flicker when burned, making them dangerous for kids to handle. Beeswax candles are completely safe because they melt safely and don’t give off sooty smoke. You can light it to create a comforting aura in your living room without sweating about soot formation on your ceiling.

Because the unadulterated ingredient for beeswax candles was created in a place where honey is being manufactured by Apis bees, the resulting aroma of bee’s wax candles is naturally sweet and relaxing.

Honey bees create beeswax in the same beehive they create honey so the fragrance of the syrup is transfered to the bee’s wax. Aromatic scented candles are a hit among married couples because they add a romantic feel to any room in the house.

Most people buy bee’s wax candles because of the rejuvenating effect of the candle’s scent. These are available in hobby shops and art stores in rectangular sheets. You can start experimenting with a few sheets if you’re a beginner to get the hang of it before you buy in bulk.

An essential part of the whole procedure is covering the wick with the wax itself. We call this to prime the wick of the candle. The wick of bee’s wax candles can only be installed after soaking in pure beeswax for at least 6 minutes. Cool the coated wicks on wax paper while you prepare your beeswax sheet for rolling.

After the wicks have cooled, the next process is to install them on the edge of the wax sheet before you can roll the wax.

You may like the idea of creating the beautiful tapered candles you see in formal dinners. Just cut the bee’s wax sheets in small triangles prior to rolling. These tapered candles are the most ideal for use in formal gatherings, formal family affairs and a candle-lit dinner. This means you can sell to a high end market and demand elevated prices.

You can use rectangular or square sheets for creating regular shapes. My first experience making beeswax candles reminded me of the time when I made biscuits. The rolling procedure is the same. Your dough flattening skills will come in handy when rolling the sheets.

Here is more information on Candle Making Wax. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Candle Making.