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How to Make Your Own Candle Gifts for Christmas

admin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:35:45 +0000

At the time I write, it is nearly Christmas so if you are going to give candles for your presents it is time to be making them. If you don’t know how there is still time to learn the basics and make some lovely, colorful votive candles. Your family and friends will surely enjoy the gifts you create. Here is how to do it.

When making candles for gifts it is best to choose the best products so that the results won’t let you down.

If you are going to make a candle gift, let me suggest a set of candles in glasses. They are so easy to make and look stunning presented laid on colored tissue paper in a nice box. You could choose your friend’s favorite color and use that as your theme. I am sure they would just love a present from you like this.

With glass molds there are so many different shapes you can use and shot glasses are proving very popular for votive candles. If you want to use other larger shapes you can also layer colors effectively.

If you are going to use glass molds, there are two steps to take that are easy but critical:

1. Start with heating the glass mold from cold in the oven to about 115° before pouring in the wax.

2. Attach the wick attached to the bottom of the glass before starting to pour (you can attach it with a glue gun or with a little blue tac).

Candle Making Fragrance

There are several ways to add fragrance to your wax but if you are going to make candles for gifts it is a good idea to invest in a quality concentrate. The initial cost is more expensive but you will only use a very little at a time and the quality of the perfume is so much better. Just invest in the popular ones that you like such as lavender, sandalwood, vanilla and strawberry.

Personally, I believe in quality. I have often found that if you buy quality the products last longer, burn better and smell so much better. I know for a fact that I like to give a quality gift and really candles are so cheap to make that there isn’t a huge need to save money on quality ingredients when you are giving candles as gifts. Did you realize that by making your own candles you are only paying about 30% of the cost of bought ones.

Something that amazes me about candles is that they are suitable for gifts for both men and women! I think the ice candles are always a great candle gift for men because they just look that little bit rough and tumble.

About the Author:

Copyright (c) 2009 Kaye Dennan. Secrets to candle making can be downloaded at http://candlemakingcraft4u.com. Candle Making – Start With Confidence is a great place to start for the beginner as it is a step by step instructional ebook. For more information on candle making, you will find this information at http://www.candlemakingcraft4u.com/molds.php.

More Candle Making Resources

The Secrets To Successful Candle Making.
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The Ultimate Guide To Soy Candlemaking.
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Your Candle Making Success Plan.
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Guide To Making And Designing Candles From Start To Finish. Includes Chapters On Tools,equipment And Supplies Need To Start Candle Making As A Hobby.Plus Various Chapters On How To Craft Various Types Of Candles.

Scrapbooking – 10 Steps for the Beginner

admin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:56:10 +0000

You can start scrapbooking with enthusiasm, determination and a desire to preserve and remember your past, enrich your present and inspire hope for future generations with your unique photos and story. Just follow these simple steps.

1. Get your boxes of photos out to organize them. This can be a most daunting task, especially if you have never sorted your photos and you have boxes and boxes of photos in your closet or under your bed, waiting to be put into albums. This may be a task that you never gotten around to and now you have so many photos that it seems such a huge and time consuming job.

2. Start to separate and collate them roughly into a chronological order of events. Put these piles of photos in order into a safe storage box still keeping them in their order. Use smaller boxes or envelopes to keep your sorted photos separated.

3. Decide on a project to start with. You may want to start with a special event for example: a 21st birthday, Granddad’s 70th birthday, or Christmas events over the years. Take the photos for this occasion out of the storage box.

4. Using spare blank papers about the size of your scrapbook, lay out your photos on these papers in a way that appeals to you. Rearrange your photos on the spare pages until you are happy with the potential layout. Remember, this is YOUR story so there is no right or wrong way.

5. Keeping your photos on the pages, pile the pages in the order you have arranged them. Store these so that they are close at hand when you have a few minutes to work on your project. Now you are ready to start your scrapbook.

6. Take your first page and look carefully at the photos. Discard blurry photos if possible. Crop (cut) your photos to emphasize or accent particular features in the photo, it may be cropping to get rid of excess background. There are plenty of cropping tools and cutters available on the market to simplify this task. You are now ready to place your photos permanently on your album page.

7. Mount your photos onto colored photo-safe card or paper to enhance your page and then onto the actual scrapbook page.

8. Add a story box. This to tell anyone who is looking at the scrapbook the story behind the photos. Express your feelings and use plenty of descriptive words to give life to your photos.

9. Embellish (decorate) the page with shapes or photo-safe stickers. Don’t overdo this aspect as often time less is more.

10. Place your page into a page protector so that pages and photos don’t rub against each other thus protecting your photos for the future.

If you continue to work like this with just a few minutes a day you can accomplish and complete your scrapbook in no time at all. It is a most satisfying and inspiring feeling to complete an album to share with your family and friends.

About the Author:
If you would like more hints on how to layout your photos in your scrapbook you can find them here http://www.scrapbookinglayoutsonline.com

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Start Now and Make Your Own Candles for Unique Christmas Presents

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:40:59 +0000

Christmas is near and it is a time of giving and celebration. The idea of giving is to share your interests and to try and make the other person feel loved. To do this, one way is to give them something that you have made yourself. So to help you do this, here are a few tips that could lead to you making your own candle gifts to give to family members and friends.
The art of candle making is one that is centuries old but here we will cover a method called “chunk candles”.

I have carefully detailed the steps below but, even so, care needs to be taken so that the wax does not reach a flash point and you suddenly have a real problem on your hands. To do this you need to have a thermometer and also know the flash point of the wax you are using, so find this out from your supplier. Also you need to understand about adding color to your wax. The number of candles you plan on making will naturally determine the quantity of supplies you need. If you haven’t done much with candle making before it might pay just to do a few and see how it goes for you.

Another point to consider is your color choice. It is a good idea to choose colors that are complementary to each other and work well together either for a festive season like red and green for Christmas, or when using colors to suit a person’s decor. It pays to keep the main color either white or a very light shade if you are choosing a color.

If you would like to have scented candles you will need to choose a fragrance to add to your wax and in this style of candle it really only needs to be added to the main color. Do check how this should be added so that you don’t have any problems.

What you will need to make chunk candles:

Colored wax that has been preset in a metal tray and cut into squares before totally setting.
Lighter colored wax as the main color of your candle.
Wick/s.
Candle scents if you wish to perfume the candles.
Molds (could be a milk carton) or a pillar candle mold.

For the process of making chunk candles you will need to:

Melt your colored wax and spread it to the thickness that you want onto a cake tin that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
As the wax is starting to set cut into cubes about 1? (2cm). You may be using 1, 2 or 3 separate colors at this stage.
Bring your wick through the bottom of your mold and hold with glue or blue tac.
Place the chunks at angles into the mold leaving gaps in between and making sure your wick is straight. You could put a kebab stick next to the wick at this stage and it will help keep the wick straight. You can remove it before the final setting of the main colored wax.
Melt your main color and slowly poor over the chunks in the mold.

When you have set your candles they should slip out of the mold easily and you will have a lovely candle that is melded together as the hot was has set. The cubes of wax look stunning in this type of candle and would be appreciated by anyone who likes to have candles in their home.

To complete the look of the gift, pretty up the candle with a tie of raffia, twine or something similar or even some glitter or Christmas embellishments glued on if you are giving Christmas gifts. Have fun and experiment with this style of candle making because it is not too difficult and the results can make quite unique candles each time which I am sure will be greatly appreciated.

About the Author:
Copyright (c) 2009 Kaye Dennan. More tips for candle making can be downloaded at http://www.candlemakingcraft4u.com. Candle Making – Start With Confidence is a great place to start for the beginner as it is a step-by-step instructional ebook. Much more information on candle making can be found by just following the link through to http://www.candlemakingcraft4u.com. You can start your candle making gift in no time at all with this information.

More Candle Making Resources

Stop Burning Time And Money.
In Your Candle Business- How To Make Your Candle Making Business Thrive With Less Time, Money And Research.

Candle Making For Fun And Profit.
A Beginners Guide About Candle Making Basics Teaching Novices How To Make Them At Home And How To Sell Them For Income.

Candle Making Secrets.
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Secrets To Simple Candle Making.
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Make Your Own Votive Candles

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:21:13 +0000

Many of the techniques used in candle making are quite easy and one of the most popular candle types is votive candles. Making votive candles is easy, fun and can be done so quickly. They look wonderful adorning wedding tables, birthday celebrations, the spa room, the lounge, a romantic dinner table and have so many other popular uses as well.

What makes votive candles so popular is that they are small, use clear wax and get their color from using a colored glass container which reflects a colored glow.

So what is a votive candle?

In a votive candle the wax is set straight into a small container with a wick in the center — all of which will give about a 15 hour burn. A votive candle should not be confused with a tea light candle which is in a small metal container and is used to place in bigger objects like wall candle holders, balloon candle holders and jack-o-lanterns.

Most people associate perfumed candles with votive candles and this is probably a fair assumption as most of them are perfumed.

You can use votive candles for various purposes:

Weddings

One of the great things about using votive candles for a wedding is that you can make them yourself so easily. A grouping of votive candles down the center of the tables makes a lovely table centerpiece. They can be kept in the traditional white or there can be an introduction of the bridesmaids’ colors with the candle wax or the candle holders. Alternatively, color could be added by incorporating sprays of small flowers in the centerpiece that reflects the bridesmaids’ colors. Either way, they look beautiful.

Another choice for a very romantic effect might be to have them lining the front of the bride’s table. The cake table looks very romantic with groupings of votive candles as well.

Birthday Celebrations

Much the same use can be made of votive candles for birthday celebrations. They can be used for table centerpieces or as decorations to build atmosphere.

Pool Parties

Votive candles look great scattered around the pool at night when there is a pool party. Using floating candles in the pool is really stunning. Having a series of candles around a spa bath is very romantic and just so lovely to experience while having a luxuriating bath.

Dinner Parties

A selection of votive candles is lovely to have at a dinner party. In groupings they make a lovely arrangement and if perfumed can really make a room smell beautiful. They can be grouped on the table or, with a little extra effort, they can be used as place names, a setting on the bar or in the drinking area.

One point to remember about votive candles is that they do look best in groupings or used in displays with other items like pine cones, stones, flowers, rustic mats and so forth — all of which adds to the atmosphere.

If you like burning votive candles you would have a lot of fun making your own votive candles and it would save you a lot of money as well. You make exactly what you want and you would also have a fun seeking out the little glass containers. It has become quite popular for people who are having parties and making votive candles to set them in shot glasses.

About the Author
Copyright (c) 2009 Kaye Dennan. Kaye has been involved in the art field over a long period of time, owning several art businesses and is the author of Candle Making – Start With Confidence. For more information on candle making, especially votive candles you will find this information at http://www.candlemakingcraft4u.com/making-votive-candles.php

More Candle Making Resources

Stop Burning Time And Money.
In Your Candle Business- How To Make Your Candle Making Business Thrive With Less Time, Money And Research.

Candle Making For Fun And Profit.
A Beginners Guide About Candle Making Basics Teaching Novices How To Make Them At Home And How To Sell Them For Income.

Candle Making Secrets.
Candle Making Secrets Revealed! Try It Now And See For Yourself.

Secrets To Simple Candle Making.
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Caring for Bonsai Trees: When to Change Pots

admin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:12:40 +0000

It was coming into spring and I thought it would be a good opportunity to brighten up things around home. I had seen some of the pots available for bonsai and I thought it would be good to update the plastic pot my bonsai was in. The plastic pot was a bit dull looking and I wanted to display what I had learnt about caring for bonsai trees by getting a brighter pot.

I wanted to choose a pot that would complement my tree as the pot is considered as much part of the art form as the tree itself. I had read that the tree contributes to one half of the composition; the pot completes the image.

Although I wanted the colour and texture of a pot to match a characteristic of the tree, I was to find out that choosing the style or look of the pot is not that important in the early stages of caring for bonsai trees when you are simply focusing on keeping it healthy and miniature.

As we know, bonsai trees are grown in small pots or trays so as to bind the roots and keep the tree small. I found out the plastic pot that my tree came in is also referred to as a “humidity tray”. When the plant is watered the plastic pot retains the water to create humidity around the plant. They are usually made of plastic or wood and are sometimes called “training pots”.

A training pot is all that is required in the initial stages of caring for bonsai trees, while you focus on establishing a stable root system, letting the trunk develop some thickness and giving the branches some direction. The root system is the foundation of the tree and until it is established properly there will only be a branch on a trunk.

If you buy an already-potted bonsai it is likely that it can stay in the same pot for a few years. It is likely that you will be repotting your new tree only if there are any issues with the soil quality.

When caring for bonsai your tree will benefit from being repotted every three to five years. In the meantime you will need to remove the tree from the pot every year to inspect the root system. If the roots form a ball around the edge of the pot, it’s time to prune or trim the roots and repot the tree.

We do have to consider whether the pot is stable enough for the tree. If the pot is too small, it will be easily knocked over. It could also make the tree ‘pot bound’ too quickly by not giving the root system room to grow. So at this time I can only continue to dream about the future pot for my bonsai and my focus will be on getting growth and development for my tree.

When I become competent at caring for bonsai and have kept it healthy and miniature then such things as shape, colour, texture and size of the pot will become much more important in order to complement the beauty I have achieved with my bonsai tree.

About the Author:
Christine McKinnon. To ensure that you don’t get fooled into doing the wrong thing when caring for bonsai trees, have a look at Bonsai Tree Basics.

Additional Bonsai Resources:

Bonsai Gardening Secrets.
Discover Over 95 Pages Of Insider Secrets To Creating Stunning Bonsai Trees.

Bonsai Care Secrets.
Learn The Tips And Secrets On Caring For Your Bonsai. Over 50 Color Photos!

The Complete Beginners Guide To Bonsai.
By Reading And Applying The Tips And Techniques Covered In This Guide
You Will Go From Complete Bonsai Beginner To Advanced Grower Within A Few Weeks.

Beautiful Bonsai Secrets.
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Identifying, Finding, Cultivating, Protecting And Maintaining Beautiful Bonsai Trees!

Bonsai Mastery Secrets.
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Care of Bonsai Trees – You Don’t Need Special Seeds

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:01:40 +0000

A word of warning if you’re new to the care of bonsai trees: Don’t rush out to buy bonsai tree seeds. There is no such thing.

A bonsai is a work of art; not any particular kind of tree. They are simply ordinary trees that are miniaturized by being potted and having their roots and branches trimmed to prevent them growing to full height. The branches are also “trained” to grow into aesthetic shapes. Almost any perennial, woody stemmed tree will do and, if you’re growing them from seed, normal seed will do.

However growing any tree from seed is a slow process and if you really want to get started on bonsai growing as a hobby it is best to buy a very young plant or, even better, one that has already been potted and trimmed as a bonsai. Once you have your tree at home you will need to know the few easy steps on the care of bonsai trees to keep it healthy and growing in just the right shape. It is not difficult to grow a bonsai but, if you don’t know what you are doing, things can go wrong very quickly.

Like any plant, proper care of bonsai trees involves providing just the right amount of water, food and light. The specific dose is dependent on the variety of your bonsai. Is it a tree that likes dry, desert conditions? More bonsai probably drown from being over-watered than under-watered. However bonsais are often kept indoors, when the plant itself would prefer to be outdoors. The air inside our houses is often very dry, so one little trick to help your bonsai is to spray the leaves with a gentle mist to create a more natural, humid environment.

Like all plants, bonsais also need regular feeding. The pot your bonsai is growing in is its micro-world. Its roots cannot search beyond the bounds of the pot for fresh nutrients which is why your bonsai needs regular feeding. But here’s another warning in your care of bonsai trees: As with watering, you don’t want to hurt your tree by overfeeding it.

All plants need light and bonsais generally like plenty of it. The right amount for your bonsai depends on the type of tree it is. If you keep your potted tree indoors it would pay to turn it frequently so all sides get their share. If you maintain the same position all the time you may find your tree grows towards the light source.

Long-term care of bonsai trees involves pruning of both the roots and branches and training of the trunk and branches to grow into the desired shape. There are five basic bonsai styles: formal upright, informal upright, cascade and semi-cascade, and the windswept, slanting look. It is easiest to start with a tree that is showing a natural tendency to grow into the shape you desire.

As I stated at the beginning, a bonsai is a work of art. It should be pleasing to the eye and tug at the soul. That sounds rather grand and perhaps a little scary for someone who has little or no experience in the care of bonsai trees. Once you have mastered a few simple secrets, the care of bonsai trees can become a pleasurable and enduring pastime.

About the Author:
Christine McKinnon. To avoid being fooled into doing the wrong thing with your care of bonsai trees – get the right advice here: http://www.bonsai-trees-care.com

Additional Bonsai Resources:

Bonsai Care Secrets.
Learn The Tips And Secrets On Caring For Your Bonsai. Over 50 Color Photos!

Help!! Someone Just Gave Me A Bonsai Tree!!
Discover The 7 Simple Steps To Keeping Your Bonsai Tree Alive & Well. Excellent Beginners Resource Targeted To New Owners Of Bonsai Trees.

The Complete Beginners Guide To Bonsai.
With The Tips And Techniques Covered In This Guide
You Will Go From Complete Bonsai Beginner To Advanced Grower Within A Few Weeks.

Beautiful Bonsai Secrets.
Step-By-Step Guide That Tells You Everything You Need To Know About Bonsai.

Bonsai Mastery Secrets.
Learn Secrets About Bonsai Care That Most People Will Never Know About