GEM ENCRUSTED CANDLES (Part 1)

GEM CANDLES

Add a touch of sparkle to your candle creations by encrusting them with gems. Adrian Pumprhey heats up the wax and shows you how.

Before you can encrust your candle with gems you must first make the candle, In this case the candle is made with a slightly thinner wick than normal to cause the  candle to hollow when burnt and produce a lantern effect showing off the gems to their best.

Although making candle is not inherently dangerous there are one or two safety precautions that should be followed. Wax is flammable at 100c and should not be melted in a saucepan directly on the heat source.  The best way of melting the wax is in a double boiler. If be worst should happen, treat a wax fire as you would an oil fire. Turn off the source of heat if you can safety do so; Cover the pan with the towel if you were unable to do so before.

Step by step

Step 1

Melt half a pound of wax with three teaspoons of stearin in a double boiler.

Tips

To remove wax from clothing and carpets, scrape off the excess and cover with absorbent paper. Iron the back of the absorbent paper with an electric iron on a low setting. The wax will melt and be absorbed by the paper.

Step 2

Whilst the wax is melting, prepare the mould by threading the wick through the candle and tying to a wick support, (a cocktail stick). Secure the wick at the base of the mould sealer and cut the wick from the roll. Use a wick of a diameter smaller than you would usually use for the would you are making the candle in.

You will need

• Paraffin wax
• Candle wick
• Candle Mould
• Scissors
• Knife
• Germ
• Mould sealer
• Water Bath
• Double Boiler
• Cushion or Wad of tissue
• Cocktail Sticks
• Thermometer
• Stearin
• Kitchen Scales
• Tray or Newspaper
• Weight

Part 2