WeekendWanderings:
I’m Feeling Crafty
I’ve been kind of MIA lately. There’s so much going on and so much I need to do before Christmas. Luckily I’ve finished the majority of my Christmas shopping, but between holiday parties, work, studying for a licensing exam, and applying to my one and only graduate school, I’ve been a busy lady. Sometimes taking a break from everything helps, though it is super difficult for me toNOT be productive – even during my “down time”.
Therefore, this past weekend I decided to take a study breakby starting on my girlfriends’ Christmas/Holiday gifts! I got this idea from
Cupcakes and Cashmere, but I decided to do it just a little differently.
Instead of finding wonderful, vintage tea cups from a fleamarket, I ventured to Anthropologie on Black Friday morning. To my surprise anddelight, they had quite a bit of mugs on sale. I feel that these mugs reallyrepresent my girlfriends and were ones that were cool, fun, and microwave anddishwasher safe.
I purchased a variety of mugs/bowls (six total) that I feltwould stand out to my friends, be a great addition to their coffee table, andwould make them think of me once they burned the candle. I envision them, twoyears from now (because I think that’s how long it will take to burn the candle– these mugs are quite large!), sipping some morning joe or earl grey teathinking about me.
I picked up all of the candle-making materials the same dayI bought the mugs, because I knew the project would sit unfinished, and buying thewax, wicks, and scent would slip my mind. I would end up “discovering” theAnthropologie bag in June and realize what I had intended with all of thesemugs if I hadn’t purchased the materials needed to make the candles. So, I tooka trip to my local Michaels and bought what I needed.
My only qualm is the scent. There was limited variety, and Ithought lavender was a no-brainer. However, I discovered that wasn’t the case.More on that later.
I could have melted the soy wax in the microwave, but Ifigured I would rather do it over a double-boiler. Each candle took about 4cups of wax (which I discovered through trial and error, naturally). The waxtook about 5-10 minutes to melt, and it was necessary for me to wear gloveswhen handling and pouring. I was supposed to measure the temperature, but Iforgot to buy the thermometer, so I winged it. Once the wax was all melted(there were no more flakes and the liquid was yellow) I added the scent (again,by winging it). The scent was fine but just did not smell like lavender. Thebest way to describe the smell was a lavender-vanilla, which is fine, but was not what I was going for.
I prepared the mugs by inserting the wick first. This was amistake, because the wick just moved when I poured the wax. However, it waseasy to take out of the melted wax once the wax was in the mug, which I did.
The melted wax was yellow and transparent, which made itvery easy to see the wick. The next step was to wait until the wax hardened.
You can see by this picture that once the wax hardened itturned a beautiful cream color.
The next step was to trim the wick so as to prevent fire andmake the candle easier to burn.
The end product turned out well! The one above I made formyself, that’s why it’s burning. J.
When making crafts I have a “that will do” attitude. I find that because I’m making this candle my gift is allowed to be slightly "off". If it is not perfect, not only do I know that my friends won’t mind, but I know that it’s a great reflection of who I am. Small mistakes are like quirks and add personality to your gift. I know this may sound like I’m being careless, but if I didn't care I wouldn't have made the gift. Perfection is so over-rated. When you’re choosing to make a gift for someone, “good enough” is more than good enough. It’s great.
Have a great Monday!
