Beeswax is an incredible substance with nearly infinite crafting possibilities. Great for light filled gifts like candles and lanterns, it's also wonderful for nourishing skin remedies. It fills the house with a rich honeyed smell while you're working and gives the air a sense of warmth and abundance.
I've been crafting up a storm of small gifts including hand balm in tins and bars, lip balm, hand dipped candles and beeswax lanterns. My son and I also dipped some beautiful autumn leaves in hot beeswax to decorate our Thanksgiving table.
I got the 5 lbs of beexwax I used in these recipes from Bee Natural, where it is sold in bulk by the pound (much more reasonable than the local craft stores).
Beeswax Hand Balm/Bars
1/2 lb beeswax
1.5 cups carrier oil
Carrier oil can be any suitable vegetable oil (olive, grapeseed, coconut, sweet almond, etc)
20-30 drops essential oil in the scent of your choice (optional)
Melt beeswax.* Add in other ingredients and stir to combine thoroughly. Pour into tins, jars or molds and allow to cool completely. I used silicone muffin and ice cube molds for the bars and they were very easy to pop out. I purchased the round tins for both the hand and lip balm from Elements Bath and Body and the tins to the left are recycled mint/lozenge tins that my daughter, Samantha, painted with winter scenes.
Beeswax Lip Balm
1/2 cup beeswax pellets or shaved beeswax
1 cup carrier oil
20-25 drops essential oil
Peppermint oil is perfect for this because it also gives that tingly, soothing feeling to chapped lips. I usually combine with another taste related oil like lemon, orange, cinnamon, etc.
Lipstick shavings for color (optional)
Melt beeswax and add other ingredients. Pour into tins, tubes or tiny jars and allow to cool completely.
Beeswax Lanterns
Thicker versions of these lovely lanterns decorated with pressed wildflowers are also available from Bee Natural. I was lucky enough to attend a skill sharing workshop at my son's Waldorf school last week where I learned to make these using balloons.
The key to this is not to overheat the wax or the balloon will pop. I used my crockpot with one of the slow cooker liners you can buy at the grocery store. I heated the beeswax to about 180 degrees and then just kept checking it and adjusting the heat setting accordingly.
The balloons I used were 9" helium quality, purchased in a pack of 25 from the dollar store. Fill the balloons with COLD water and dry the outside of them.
Gently but quickly, dip the balloon into the wax and pull it out. Allow the wax to set for a few seconds before dipping again. Continue until desired thickness is reached, we did about ten dips per balloon. After the last dip, immediately lower the balloon onto a clean, flat surface (I used parchment paper). This will create the flat bottom for the lantern to sit on.
We left our lanterns plain, but if you wanted to decorate them you could tack a fall leaf or pressed flower on with a bit of warm beeswax and then quickly dip a final time.
After the lantern has cooled for a few minutes, hold it over the sink with the tie of the balloon facing down. Pinch the top of the balloon and carefully cut off the part above your fingers with scissors. Gently let go of the balloon and it will release the lantern as it empties.
Finally, if you want to even out the top of the lantern and make it a bit stronger, quickly roll the top of the lantern through the hot beeswax one last time. Allow it to drip upside-down for a few seconds and then flip it back, swirling to flatten any remaining drips. Place a tea-light candle inside and enjoy!
We also hand dipped some smaller candles and made holders out of seashells and moss:
