July -- Foam Candles
These are Paul's design; the four-sided pyramid shown on the right in the picture below is a foam candle. Whipped wax is commonly used to decorate snowballs and Christmas tree candles, but Paul decided to make solid candles of whipped wax, which had an interesting texture, and then progressed to combining colors. Whipped wax has to be combined VERY fast, and it's a good two-person operation. Wide-mouth molds are best, and our four-sided pyramid mold was very successful. This mold is from Pourette Candle Making Supplies where we buy most of our molds and wax.
The trick is to melt some four colors, have four French whisks and large bowls ready, and whip the wax into a froth as it cools, spooning the colors alternately (and quickly!) into the pre-wicked mold. They don't mix, because the foam is a semi-solid. The result is a pattern of irregular colors on the sides that probably can't be achieved any other way. Getting complete coverage along the sides without air holes is the only trick. The colors whip into pastels even if they start out strong. We thought foam candles would burn quickly, like ice candles, but not so: they burn about the same as solid wax but there's a soft glow through the sides when lit.
August -- Crushed Candle Candles
Waste Not! We reuse the remains of burned-down candles by breaking them up and putting them into wicked molds and pouring a contrasting color wax over the crushed candles. These have proved to give extremely beautiful effects, as the irregular colors show up against the wall of the new candle (see examples, left in the picture above). One color can be used, as in white inside orange, or mixes such as blues and yellows in pink wax. Whether the mold is thick or thin, the resulting candle is dramatic and one-of-a-kind. The old candles can be broken into large pieces, or crushed fairly small, although not grated! Extremely fine crumbles of wax won't allow liquid hot wax to penetrate, we found. Put the fragments into the wicked mold and pour the liquid wax over. Note that if your dyes are very heavy in the original crushed candle, they may influence the color of the poured wax.
