"You can have it in any colour you like, as long as it's black"
~ Henry Ford
She ordered blue, green and black, but my range didn't include black yet - it consisted of only pastel colours. I checked if I still had black pigment (I did) so I got busy gathering my materials and supplies to make her candles.
Only two black candles were required for the order and I didn't want to make loads (they use a lot of pigment to get the solid black colour) but I always set up more moulds than I'll probably need - just incase. While melting candle wax, I stir it continuously and periodically check the temperature with a wax thermometer to get that optimal temperature for pouring. This means that the wax will be less inclined to stick to the mould as fiercely and there won't be nearly as much shrinkage.
I got a good pour without any spillage.
Then the frustrating part started - waiting for them to cool. I am not the most patient person in the world. Ok wait, let me rephrase that. I am one of the most impatient people in the world when it comes to candles cooling and paint drying, but I'm getting better at it. The candles cool from the outside inwards which causes the middle to contract towards the sides and you need to then poke a few holes with a skewer into the middle of the candle to open up that void and refill it. If you don't do this, then you end up with a hollowed out center in the candle and considering that the wick is in the middle - that's certainly not what you want.
Once that's filled up and has also cooled, then you can trim the bottom wick, take the end cap off, then carefully push the candle out of the mould.
The bottoms tend to be slightly uneven from the refill so I always melt them flat once they are out of the moulds. Then there's no chance of them falling over due to the bottom surface being uneven.
I then label them, wrap them in tissue paper and place them in a paper bag. I love that the tissue paper almost looks like a flame. I'm now just waiting to hear if she wants them shipped or if she wants to collect them and then they'll be off to their new home.
It was such a nice activity to do today. I don't get to make candles often, so when I do, I really enjoy the process. If you were going to add a colour to my range, what would you pick and why? Let me know in the comments.
All images are my own