July Round-Up

Well July didn't seem to hang around long, so I'll have a round-up of several things I didn't get round to blogging about!

First up, Witney Carnival, our annual summer fair with lots of entertainment and a general good community feeling.  Like most of July it was a case of sunshine & showers but it really didn't spoil the day, my favourite Mr Alexander was there to delight & entertain, his little show never fails to make me smile, if he's touring around your way you must make an effort to see him!

July also means End Of School!  Which although everyone looks forward to, actually means...Teachers Gifts!!  Eek, this year I did so want to do something handmade and personal, but as always I never give myself enough time, so the fabric coaster or fabric apple ideas were soon shelved!  Then I remembered the fab tutorial from The MadHouse that I'd bookmarked for last Christmas...tea-cup candles!

They looked fairly simple and quick but could I find any tea-cups at any of the charity shops?!  You can tell that nice tea-cups are popular, you used to trip over them all the time, but now nothing around my neck of the woods!  So instead I went for bowls and one nice glass which I think must originally had a candle in already.

As recommended I visited Whicks n' Whacks for the candle making supplies, which had all I needed and had a fast courier delivery option!

I got 1kg of Ecosoya CB Advanced Container Blend, 

25 Prewaxed Tabbed Wedo LX Votive Candle Wick - Wedo LX14 - 65mm (guessed at the large size as the bowls were quite wide)

Bottle of Fresh Cut Roses Fragrance Oil

Following both 'The MadHouse' instructions and also the helpful hints of Whicks n' Whacks, I measured out roughly how much wax I would need to melt for the 6 containers - which actually turned out to be rather a lot,  I had to do it in two batches!

Basically all you need to do is melt the wax in the microwave, when cool add the fragrance - not too much, think it's best to err on the side of caution, I found doing just 6 candles the smell was quite over-powering!

Stick the wicks to the bottom of the containers, I wedged mine in with a bit of warm wax and then pour in the melted & cooled wax.

Easy!

I kept checking on the wicks to make sure they weren't drooping while the wax was hardening but by the evening/next morning they were ready to be wrapped and given out!

I would definitely recommend this as an easy present, I have lots of the supplies left so I can just vary the fragrance for different people/occasions.

I'll continue the round-up in a new post, as it's 'Art in Action' and I have a lot of photos!