Monday, January 31, 2011

Candle Making Class

Chatrium conducts monthly seminars for hotel guests and residents, particularly for stay-at-home mommies like me.  In the past, I have attended a flower arrangement seminar and a Thai cooking class.  Last Friday, I went to a candle making class.
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A good number of hotel staff was there to assist us, specially with heating the wax.  We were actually a little bit spoiled because all we had to do was sit there and wait while they do the dirty work for us.  Heehee!
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Materials for candle #1: A paper cup, ready-made wick and disposable chopsticks.  To prepare the wick, you should insert it between the chopsticks to make sure that it stands upright when you pour the hot wax.
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This is the wax.  It's a mixture of different components like paraffin, natural wax and other stuff.  I don't remember the ingredients and their exact proportions because the staff melted the wax mixture for us so it arrived on my table like this already.
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That's the staff member adding in the essential oil.  Told you they do the dirty work for us!  I left the class with clean hands.  Imagine that.  Heehee!  
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They used vanilla, by the way.  The scent in the room was too strong but I love how my shirt smelled like vanilla hours after the class.
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Stir the mixture gently after you pour in the essential oil.
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That's our teacher adding dye to my wax mixture.  I asked for purple, my favorite :)
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She used very little powdered dye.
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I thought it was going to be this kind of purple so I was kinda sad.
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But then she added a little bit of red so it became like this.  Hmmm...Not my perfect shade of purple pero pwede na rin.
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My first layer of purple wax.  If I had my way, I would make my candle purple all the way.  But everyone in class was doing three layers in different colors so nakigaya na rin ako.  Hehe!
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We used this metal spoon to pour the wax in the paper cup.
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Wait for the first layer to cool before pouring the next one.
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Make sure too that the wax for your 2nd layer is not too hot before pouring it.  Otherwise, the first layer will melt and the colors will mix.
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My 2nd layer: yellow.
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While waiting for my 2nd layer to cool, we made candle #2.  Same procedure, but this time in a glass.
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Same vanilla scent, but only one color this time.
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This is how the purple wax looks like when it has cooled.  It's not as bad as I thought it would be!
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Waiting...
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Still waiting...
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Finally!  I used the rest of the wax for my 3rd layer.  Don't fill the paper cup to the brim.  You need to leave a little bit of space on top so it will be easier to peel the paper cup off.
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And pour the wax slowly to avoid bubbles.  I poured the rest of the wax too quickly hence the bubbles.
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For the glass candle, you might notice that the center will sink a little when the wax cools.  You just need to add a little bit more hot wax to make it level.
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Almost ready!  The wick is off center, though.  Heehee!
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You have to wait for six hours pala before you can remove the paper cup.
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My two candle projects :)
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We were given a nice box for the glass candles.
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Ready to go!
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Six hours later, tadaaah!  My puto bumbong with star margarine inspired candle project.  Haha!
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The candle making class was fun!  I just wish we were more hands-on.  Or maybe just me; I might be the only one in class who doesn't mind getting her hands dirty.

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