Cupcake Candles
October 14, 2007
With candle making, there are hardly any limits. You can replicate lots of things with your creativity. Here are some delicious ‘Cupcakes’ that look very, very inviting.
Complete with chopped crayon bits for nuts and decorations, many people will mistake them for edible, freshly-baked, icing-topped cupcakes coming from your kitchen!
Materials Needed:
Candle Making Supplies (Wax, Dyes, Boiler, Wicks etc.), Paper Muffin Cups (2-3 for one candle), Whisk, Old Crayons (chopped into small pieces)
Directions:
1.Place 2-3 paper cups into each other for strength. Now, place them into individual muffin molds or a muffin tray for a string base. Grease them lightly if you wish, but it is not necessary.
2. Melt Wax, mix a dark or earthy colored dye for the muffin base. We have used brown, but you can experiment. They are not real cakes after all!
3. Pour melted wax into the prepared ‘molds’. Allow to cool and set. You can use a wick at this point. We have have not used one because I made these ‘cupcakes’ just as a show-piece.
Decorate for Christmas
October 13, 2007
It’s your home/your apartment and you want to make it a special sanctuary this Christmas. How can you create a special place for your family and you? Well, we already have our centerpiece?see November’s issue Decorate for Thanksgiving.) Just replace candles and flowers. But how can you make your place shine with love and holiday spirit?
Your dining room table can have a nice Christmas cloth or runner. Replace the fall curtain scarf with Christmas co-ordinates to match your table cloth or runner. Look around your yard for any berries that you might use in your centerpieces. Be careful that little ones don’t put these in their mouths. Make a wreath for your door using a grapevine base and ivy you might have growing around the yard?.place berries strategically around the circle. Make a bow of fine vines and place in the center, a couple of pine cones. What a unique heart warmer for your guests to enter your sanctuary by.
Making a Chunk Candle
October 12, 2007
Making chunk candles is an and fun activity for all ages. A unique technique using wax chunks of different colors gives the finished candle a beautiful texture and look. Thay make a refreshing alternative to the usual pillar candles. Follow these step-by-instructions and make your own pretty chunk candles to gift or keep.
** It is assumed that the reader has a basic knowledge of preparing the candle mold by spraying oil and wicking it and also for setting and removing the finished candles from the mold. Anyone who has made a pillar candle before will find this project very easy to follow.
What You Need
Wick, Paraffin Wax, Candle Mold, Candle dyes in various colors, Shallow Tray,
To see the completed candle, visit http://www.ilovetocraft.com/candlemaking/chunk-candles.shtml
Directions:
1. First you will need to prepare chunks. You can use leftover chunks from other candle projects. Or you make new ones by melting wax, adding color and allowing to set in a shallow pan. You can use either single-colored or multi-colored chunks.
2. Prepare the mold by spraying oil and wicking it. Then fill the mold with chunks.
3. Melt (un-dyed) wax and add to the mold. Allow to set completely.
Create a Holiday Feast For The Senses
October 12, 2007
This is my daughter’s first Christmas. Naomi will be nearly nine months old and eager to explore all that the holidays have to offer. Within a few weeks after conception, babies develop the sense of touch, with taste, smell, hearing and sight following in that order. At birth, babies possess all the senses they will have through their lives, just waiting for sensory experiences to learn about the world. The senses quickly become more acute, until adulthood when they are taken for granted. Each sense has its own role in helping create a magical memory, whether you are celebrating Solstice, Diwali, St. Lucia Day, Hanukkah, Christmas, First Night, or Festivus. This year, experience the holidays as a child again. Even if this isn’t your first Christmas, you can make it joyful and loving by using all your senses.
· SEEING IS BELIEVING
Is Digital Photography Expensive?
October 11, 2007
Being such a fascinating device as the digital camera, this technological masterpiece is of course a precious and priced possession. And acquiring it also means that one time achievement feeling. Thus a person must also be very careful and at the time quite a little knowledgeable in order to make a good purchase and not lose a good bargain in the maze of soaring prices and mist of exaggerated cost myths. This discussion is again focused to pierce that mist and unravel that myth to reveal the truths and facts regarding the actual and economic cost of a digital camera!
As per recent marketing trends, the conventions has it that there are only two types of digital camera users, firstly the average people who only craves to push the button, and secondly the professional photographers, people who looks for good control over the digital camera and its well carved features and are willing to pay virtually any price. Thus with this idea in the back of the entire process of sell and purchase, diverse levels of resolution for such digital cameras are available that are the real culprits in defining the price range of the cameras. United with such singular features the digital cameras come in a spectral variety of price range for an even varying customer range that are willing to pay anything from £30 to £1,500.
How to Value Your Jewelry at Home or Work
October 10, 2007
Many thanks for taking the time to read this compact jewelry article entitled ‘How to Value your Jewelry at Home or Work’. You are about to discover the intricacies and formulas that highly qualified Gemologists and Valuers are using, right now, to evaluate and appraise gold, silver and platinum jewelry.
But before we begin, I would simply like to bring you ‘up to speed’ on what will be required. As you know, the art of valuing jewelry takes many years to learn (over five years before you can graduate) and then it takes several more years to gain the necessary experience to ‘get it right’.
Gemologists don’t all become Valuers because of this high level of study, which doesn’t include the expense of Microscopes and Refractometers and Dichroscopes and and and….
In this program we don’t even want to explain what these pieces of equipment are because firstly; they are too expensive (you can pay thousands of dollars just for a binocular microscope) and secondly because you are not a trained jeweler, and probably don’t want to be.
So don’t let that put you off because we are NOT trying to turn you into professionals overnight. That would be wrong of us to even try.
Top 20 Poetry Quotations
October 9, 2007
Explore the meaning of poetry and the motivation of poets with this special collection of evocative quotations…
Visions of Sugar Plums and Holiday Safety!
October 8, 2007
Ho, Ho, Ho, Holiday greetings to you!
Every year at this time I can’t help but notice the beautiful holiday lighting and adornment. It’s great to see that even homes with a “For Sale” sign on the front lawn have been bedazzled with lights! But this good deed seldom goes without also decking the halls with many holiday hazards.
You may be feeling happy for the holidays, but you’ll be roasting more than chestnuts if you lose respect for the dangers inherent in the season! It is sad to say, but more homes burn during December than any other month. And electricity is not the only hazard contributing to the risk.
Candles! Gosh they look so good and the scent can set the perfect holiday mood. But always remember this about candles - they are on fire! Seasonal candles on windowsills near your beautiful curtains and shears is a perfect blend for combustion. Please be sure candles are always attended when lighted, shielded by a glass enclosure, and located so the cat doesn’t knock them over. And put out all candles before snuggling in for the night!
How to Make Your Own Soap Favors for Weddings and Baby Showers
October 7, 2007
Want to make soap as a gift for your party guests? Here are some simple tips for making soap gifts and favors:
1. There are literally hundreds of different ingredients that can be used for soap making. Basically, you will need the following - soap chips or soap base, essential or fragrance oil for scent, and colorants. You will also need a soap mold and a pot to melt the soap in.
2. The easiest way to make soap is to take an already made bar of soap and melt it down. The bar will already have all the ingredients you need in it. You can then pour the soap into a mold of your choice or shape it as desired. Or you can use a cookie cutter or knife to shape it while it is still warm.
3. If you are using raw ingredients, simply pour and mix them in the mold of your choice.
4. Heating - Make sure to heat the soap slowly to prevent combustion or degradation of smell. 130°F - 155°F is a good general range, although there are slight variations depending on what ingredients you use. Try not to leave the soap unattended for long periods of time while heating.
How to Make a Childs Handprint on a Ceramic Tile
October 7, 2007
This is a fun craft to do with a group of moms and their kids, one child per adult works the best. Each mom will need:
—One soft brush, any size but 1/2″ works the best
—One jar of “One-Stroke Ceramic underglaze”, either Duncan E-Z Stroke or Gare One-Stroke. (Of course they can share these, but it’s best if they have at least 3 colors to choose from. The best are a dark green, a dark blue or a dark brown. One jar of each color will do 50 hands altogether)
—One pint jar of “clear gloss glaze”, which all can use.
—A sponge
—Paper towels and a washcloth
—One blank UNglazed ceramic tile, 4-1/4″ (for kids 2 or 3 yrs. old or so) or 6″ (for kids over 3) Unless you know someone who does hand-painted tile as a career, these would have to be ordered in cases of 100 or so. The best thing is to call the hobby ceramic stores, where you will get the underglaze and clear glaze, and ask if they have a “molded greenware or bisque tile they sell”, and order the quantity you need. Tell them you would like them “fired to bisque.”
