In my last post, I spoke about the importance of the body as a temple, and how to make infused oils which you can find here Ritual and the body as a temple-how to make infused oils. After all the hard work growing the medicinal plants and making the oils, it seemed like such a waste to throw away the leftover plant matter after straining. I remembered that oils and natural bee wax will blend very nicely after using them together for enfleurage perfumes (I will be doing a post on how to make natural enfleurage perfume in the coming weeks when the flowers return) and decided to make some bee wax candles using eggshell for the moulds. I have always absolutely loved the smell of bee wax, it is the wax I like to use for batik textiles, as it won’t crack too much and gives very solid, strong lines. Bee wax is also a natural air purifier when burnt in a candle, as it will give off negative ions (I am not going to write a big piece of this, but you will surely find a lot of information on the topic by searching online).
I chose to use eggshells for the moulds because they are the perfect size for my home alter, where I put all my most treasured possessions and fresh flowers every day, I also use a lot of eggs when I cook at home, and apart from putting them crushed in my garden to deal with cabbage moths and deter snails, I tend to have a lot on hand, I also like to avoid buying synthetic moulds/supplies or using plastic.
What you will need.
16 medium size free range eggs.
500g of natural unbleached bee wax.
Strained medicinal plant matter from your infused oils, or dried medicinal herbs or flower petals (be sure to break it up into small pieces about 1cm and smaller).
Two egg cartons to support the eggs while the wax sets.
Hemp cord or pure cotton cord for the wick.
Scissors.
A nice deep spoon like a (small soup spoon) to scoop the wax into the eggshells.
Either a pot that you will only be using for melting wax, or a large pot and a glass bowl or metal bowl (that will only be used for melting wax).
Water.
16 broken up twigs to support your wicks, or toothpicks if you prefer.
Paper towel or cloth towels.
A big bowl to put the contents of the eggs.
Sharp knife, a cleaver is the best.
Chopping board.
Step one.
Wash your eggs if need be, and then one by one, place them on the chopping board and with one chopping motion, cut the top of your egg at the most narrow end (do not saw at the egg as it will crumble) if it does not go all the way through, that is alright, just quickly tip the contents into your bowl and then gently pick off any shell that did not come away, until you have a level as possible opening. Rinse the egg (pop the little bubble at the base of the inner egg) and place it open side down onto the towel so they can drain and dry. Once you have done this with all your eggs (put away their contents for later use) and the eggs have completely dried (moisture will cause cracks in your candles, so it is important that they are very dry), place them all inside the egg cartons to support them.
Step two.
Break up your little twigs into pieces about 5cm long (or take your toothpicks, I like to use twigs as I always have an abundance in my garden from trimming back trees) cut and tie your wick to the twig tightly, you want the wick to touch the bottom of the eggshell, and also have about 3cm coming off the top (you will need to cut the wick with scissors when the wax is set so it is better to have more to work with than not enough).
Step three.
Taking your pot add the bee wax and on a low heat, melt the wax until it is completely liquid, do not let it start to smoke, if it bubbles or starts smoking turn it right down or remove from the heat completely. If you are making a double boiler, fill your pot with water, then put your glass/metal bowl inside and add the wax to the inner bowl, then slowly heat the water until gently boiling, and melt the wax inside, be sure to add enough water to the pot that it comes to half way up to the inside bowl, but not so much that it can bubble over and add water to your wax, you really do not want any water accidently getting into it, as it will cause your candles to crack. Once the wax is liquid turn off the heat entirely, add in your plant matter/flower petals and stir (if it starts to solidify too fast you can heat again).
Step Four.
Using the deep spoon, scoop up the wax, making sure to have a decent amount of the plant material/petals included, and pour into the opening of the eggshells, one by one, if your wicks move during the pouring, you can re-adjust them after. Do not fill the shells too much, as you want to have enough wick poking out the top to be able to light your candles.
Step five.
Once you have filled all of your eggshells with the bee wax, leave them to set completely, and then take your scissors (it helps if they are very sharp) and cut the wicks as close to the stick as you can, try not to pull them as they may come out of your candle (you can buy little metal bases to prevent this, or recycle them from old candles if you wish). Remove your candles from the egg carton and they are complete! You will need to burn them in an appropriate candle holder such as a jar, so they do not topple over.
Please be sure to have a look at my other posts in the living life slowly tab, where I will have tutorials for many more of life’s ritual pleasures.
