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Candle Decor
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Tips and Suggestions
Basic Process
Prepare your glassware…wash and dry thoroughly, remove any dust or lint particles and smudges. Set your glassware on a level surface where it can remain untouched until your gel is ready to pour.
Melt your Gel. (see Melting Instructions below.)
Prepare your wick… just in case your wick has a coat of wax on it, dip it in melted gel so the wick gets a light coating of gel on it. This will help to cut down on some of the foaming.. Straighten your wick (see below.) To secure the wick to the glass I use stickems and I have found them the best. Put the stickem on the wick tab, center your wick in the bottom of the glassware and press firmly down . I have the stickems on my web page.
To straighten your wick before securing..
Hold the base of the wick in one hand and take the other hand and hold the other end of the wick and pull taut.
You may have to straighten it after it has been applied. Hold the tab in place by using a metal pick, spoon or other tool and lightly tugging on the end of the wick to straighten.
Prepare your embedding decorations… if you want to have some embedded object on the bottom of your glass, now is the time to make your design. You may use sand, pebbles , gravel and shells as a base.
Note: When pouring sand try not to get sand on your wick.
Gravel, sand and pebbles help to hide your wick base
NOTE: This is very important DO NOT USE FLAMMABLE ITEMS SUCH AS SILK FLOWERS OR DRIED FLOWERS.
Make sure that what you put in the bottom to make your design with will not burn. This is very important. You may see on TV that you can make these beautiful Candles with silk flowers but they can cause a fire.
I have a nice glassware piece that you can put silk flowers in the bottom part and in the top part you put your gel in. Both pieces are separate so that way your silk flowers are not in the same containers as your gel and you know it is safe from catching on fire.
You can make a pretty creative candle with sand, pebbles , gravel and sea shells.. You can put in glass embeds such as fish and many other sea creatures. There are many glass embeds on my Web page that will help you make a beautiful candle.
You can get very creative with the Glass embeds, take a little time to make the design you want. Once you pour your gel it is hard to move the objects around with out messing up your design.
When you have your design made I put the glassware in a crock pot to heat a little, you can use you oven if you wish. I would heat the oven about 150 F. This helps to cut down on the bubbles.
When your gel has started to set a little and you are ready to pour you gel into the heated glassware container I pour some Gel to cover the design and let that set just a little, then I put in my fish and other sea creatures. I let that set up before I pour in the rest of the heated gel. Keep in mind that most sea shells have a cavity and that can cause bubbles. You can put your shells in some heated Gel and fill the cavity and that helps to eliminate so many bubbles. I like some bubbles in my Sea Scene candles but not so many that you can not see your creativity and your glass embeds.
If you want you can layer the gel and let each layer set and add more sea shells. This makes a nice looking sea scene. I have found this the best for me instead of dropping the shell in the Gel and watching them drop to the bottom and not have any shells throughout the candle. If you are going to layer your sea scene you may see a fine line with each layer once the Gel has completely cooled, you can use a hair blower and put it on the out side of the glass container , put you hair blower on High and run along were the line is and it will disappear as the glass heats This may take a little while but it is worth it as when you are finished you have NO lines.
You may have to try different ways of doing the shells and find out which way is best for you.
You can try this in a glass with out any sand or wick and that way you may find a easier way that works best for you.
Aluminum Gel Melting Pot
Price $24.95 each
This one piece aluminum melting pot holds up to 4 lbs. of Gel and has a very nice pouring spout. It cleans up nice, does not rust, is light weight yet sturdy and the pour spout is great for pouring Gel into small containers and well as large containers. I use the Melting pot and has saved me a lot of time as I can pour a number of candles with out having to melt more Gel.
Melting Suggestions
I use an Aluminum melting pot as shown above. It has a nice pouring spout and is lightweight. I melt my Gel on a Medium heat until it is completely melted. I let the Gel cool to about 190 or 200 degrees F to add my scent. Make sure you know the flash point of your scent, most scents have a flash point of about 200 degrees to 210 degrees F.
Do not leave your Gel unattended on the stove.
I put in my scent and stir as little as possible as this can cause a lot of bubbles, you will get some bubbles but with letting it sit to cool the bubbles will rise to the top If you want colour put it in at the same time as your scent, then you only have one stir. The less you stir your gel the better. The more you stir your Gel the more bubbles you get
Once your Gel has cooled to approx. 170 degrees F I do my pour at that time. Make sure you tip you glass container like pouring a beer without a head. I let the gel run down the inside of the glass very slow as the container starts to fill with gel you can slowly start to set the container up right, keep on pouring until you have about ½" to ¼" from the top of your container.
I use a thin piece of cardboard to keep my wick straight. I put a hole in the middle of it and put it on top of my container bring the wick up through the hole and tape it to the upper top of the cardboard making sure the wick is straight and in the middle of my container. Once the gel has set and the container has cooled down you can take the cardboard off, trim your wick down to about ¼" And now you can enjoy your masterpiece you have just created.
When selling your Gel Candles at a craft show or just giving one to a friend please put a warning label on the bottom of your container.
Check out some of the other Web pages on the internet for other suggestions on making Gel Candles. I have found them very helpful.
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