Candle Making Tutorial
Hurricane Paper Latern Candles
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Copyright 2003-2004 CandleHelp.com
This Paper Lantern
Hurricane Candle Shell is the marriage of two different but equally enchanting
candle techniques – the Hurricane Candle Shell, and the Paper Lantern.
Hurricane Candle Shells in their natural state are made with a plain wax
shell and a tealight inside. Paper lanterns are usually a piece of fancy paper
rolled and taped into a cylinder, with a tealight or votive placed in the
center. The lit tealight glows through the paper creating a luminous, slightly
exotic effect. This project incorporates the paper lantern into the wax
of the hurricane shell, creating a beautiful paper lantern effect but with the
durability and practicality of a hurricane shell. You can use handmade papers,
wrapping papers, any type of paper that you like, for this project.
What You Will
Need - Supplies
·
High
Melt Point Molding Candle Wax
·
Micro
Wax 195 pearls
·
9.5"
X 4" Square Metal Hurricane Candle Mold
·
Fancy Paper
·
Silicone
Spray Mold Release (optional)
·
Steamer
Pot or old Sauce Pan to create a double boiler
·
Standard
Size Melting Pot
·
Wood
Stir Sticks, chopsticks, or something else to stir the wax
·
Thermometer
·
Craft
Knife
Also a good idea to
have around:
·
Paper towels
·
Wax
Remover
·
Aluminum Foil
·
Newspaper, butcher
paper, or scrap paper to cover work surfaces
·
Fire Extinguisher (just
in case)
How to Set Up
Your Work Area
- Put down
newspaper or butcher paper on tables and countertops to catch spills and
for easy cleanup.
- Have paper towels
and Windex on hand for cleaning stovetops.
- Wrap stove burner
bowls in tin foil to catch drips of wax,
and for easy cleanup afterwards.
Cut Paper Shapes
for Sides
Create a template
for one of the inside sides of your candle mold. Trace lightly in pencil around
the edges of your template on the back of the sheet of decorative paper you are
using so you have four shapes, one for each side of your finished candle.
Tracing the exact size and shape of the inside of the mold, and using this for
the sides, keeps the finished surface of your candle clean. Overlapping or
poorly sized paper shapes can make your final hurricane paper lantern look
sloppy. Use your scissors to cut out each of the paper shapes along your
tracing lines.
Sent your paper
cutouts in a safe place until you need them, to keep them clean and free of wrinkles.
Prep Your Mold
Our 9.5"
X 4" Square Metal Hurricane Molds do not typically have wick holes in
the bottom. If you are using a mold that has a wick hole in the bottom, close
it with a wad of mold
sealer.
Inspect your mold
to ensure that there is no residual wax
on the inside surfaces or seams of your mold.
If there is, remove it.
Spray the inside of
your mold
with Silicone
Spray Mold Release. To do this, either follow the directions on the can, or
hold the nozzle 8 to 10 inches from your mold
and release the spray in short bursts. I little goes a long way with Silicone
Spray Mold Release.
Melting your High Melt
Point Molding Candle Wax
Fill
the bottom part of your double boiler (the steamer
pot or the deep sauce pan) with about two inches of cool water, and place
on the burner set to high temperature.
A
simple double boiler using an old sauce pan and a meting pot with a spout.
Place
pieces of 150
degree Molding Candle Wax to be melted into the standard
sized melting pot, set the melting
pot in the water, and attend to it as the wax
liquefies. (When the water begins to boil, turn the heat down to medium low or
low.) The standard
sized melting pot holds a little over 4 lbs of wax.
If
you have a large block
of wax and need instructions on how to safely break it into smaller pieces,
please visit our section on How To Break Up Wax
Blocks.
When
the wax
is entirely liquid (i.e., when there are no solid chunks any longer in the pot)
you have successfully melted the wax.
Continue heating
the wax
until it reaches 200
degrees F.
Adding Micro Wax
195
Since the finished
hurricane candle shell will be subjected to heat from a candle
in its interior, it is important that the
hurricane candle wax be of a higher melting point than typical tealight
or votive candle wax.
Micro
Wax 195 will raise the melting point of the finished hurricane
candle wax. It also acts to prevent mottling. Standard usage is between 1
and 2 teaspoons per pound of wax.
For this tutorial I have used 4 lbs of wax,
so I need to add 4 teaspoons of Micro
Wax 195. Keep track of the amount of wax
you use when making your hurricane candle shell, and add the appropriate amount
of Micro
Wax 195, using a minimum of 1 teaspoon of Micro
Wax 195 per pound of melted wax.
Stir
the Micro
Wax 195 well into the melted wax,
to ensure even distribution.
When the Micro
Wax 195 has melted entirely, bring the temperature
up to 200
degrees F.
Pouring the
Hurricane Candle Wax
When the wax
is 200
degrees F, pour it into your hurricane
candle mold. Let it sit undisturbed to cool.
Insert Paper Cutouts
After you have
poured the wax
into the hurricane
candle mold, insert the paper cutouts into the mold.
The paper absorbs
the liquid wax,
giving it more translucence. Additionally, a thin film of wax
will form on the outside surface of the paper, protecting it from scratches and
tears.
Use a stir
stick or chopstick to press the paper cutouts against the inside sides of
the mold.
If any portion of
the paper tries to separate from contact with the inside of the mold,
press it back into place with your stir
stick. The outside surfaces of your finished paper lantern hurricane shell
will be these paper cutouts, so the paper needs to be flat up against the
inside of the mold,
so that when the candle cools and hardens the outside surfaces will look smooth
and attractive.
You can use a
sweeping motion to smooth and press the paper to the side of the mold.
The wax
will help it stick.
To fix the paper in
place while the wax
cools, you can use a damp cloth or ice to cool the wax
on the outside edges. This will hold the paper in position as the interior of
the candle cools.
For trouble spots,
such as areas of paper which want to pull away from the side of the mold,
press the paper into position with a wood
stir stick and hold it there why applying ice or a damp cloth to the
outside surface at the trouble area.
The wax
will cool quickly at this spot, and fix the paper into position.
Cooling
Hurricane Candle
Let the hurricane
candle wax cool until it builds up a shell of about ¼” thickness inside the
mold.
This will take about and hour and a half to two hours or more, cooling at room
temperature.
The top of the candle
will film over and a skin will develop. This indicates that the sides of the
candle are also cooling, and building a shell. This is the shell which will
ultimately make up your finished Hurricane Candle Shell.
Test the thickness
of the shell as it develops by using your Craft
Knife to cut away a small hole in the center of the top film of the setting
candle. When the thickness of this test cross section is about ¼” thick, the
shell on the inside of the hurricane
candle mold will be the proper thickness for your finished hurricane candle
shell.
Cut Away Top of
Hurricane Candle Shell
Use your craft
knife to score a square in the cooled wax
around the top of the hurricane candle. Carefully remove this square from the
hurricane candle. Take care as the wax
inside the mold
is still very hot.
Pour the liquid wax
from the inside of the hurricane candle back into your melting
pot.
You now have a
hollow wax
shell.
Use your craft
knife to trim away the rough edges at the top of your hurricane candle,
where you removed the square of cool wax
from the top, so that the inside edges of your hurricane candle shell will be
neat and flush with the wall, which should be about ¼” thick all the way
around, and from top to bottom.
Let your hurricane
candle shell cool for another hour or so, until the wax
has hardened and cooled completely.
Remove from Mold
Remove the
hurricane candle shell from the mold
carefully, using your fingers. Take care not to mar the surface finish of your
hurricane candle shell, or to chip the surface wax.
Also, take care not to separate the paper from the wax.
If the shell does not come out of the mold
easily, place the mold
in the freezer for 10 minutes, then try again.
Trim Paper Edges
Use your craft
knife to trim the paper off the top of the hurricane shell, where it
extends above the wax.
(You can avoid this step by cutting your paper shorter than the mold, and
pouring the wax
to the top of the paper in your mold.)
Use a sharp knife
and work slowly and carefully. Take care not to pull the paper away from the wax
shell. If you tug on the paper the wrong way, it can crack the surface and
cause the thin film covering the paper to come off.
Finished Hurricane Candle Shell
Trim any rough
edges with your craft
knife. Place a tealight
or a votive
in a votive
holder inside the shell and set it anywhere! The high melting temperature
of the hurricane
candle wax keeps it from melting from the heat of tealights
and votives.
For other Hurricane
Candle Shell projects, see our tutorials on Basic Hurricane Candle
Shells, Hurricane Candles with Embeds,
and Hurricane Candle Container Candles.
For scented
tealights to use with your hurricane candle shell,
click here
