may giveaway day!

happy may greetings everyone!

***for my regular readers and old and new friends, i know it has been a while since i have been present in this space.....more on that later. ***

i have once again been so blessed to have won many generous giveaways myself this year. i have been wanting to host another giveaway of my own and when i saw that sew, mama, sew's may giveaway day was approaching, i jumped on board! in case you don't know, there are hundreds of incredible blogs participating giving away handmade goodness and supplies!!
i am giving away this beeswax nest. i made it using the same technique as the larger beeswax lanterns. it is filled with spanish moss and wee wet felted eggs.
in addition, i am gifting this mini edition of *the story of the root children*. it is identical to the larger version but a smaller, handy size for traveling perhaps.
to enter, just leave a comment here. i will ship internationally.

thanks for visiting, now go find some more great blogs and giveaways by visiting the master lists (there are 3 of them) of participants at sew, mama, sew! have fun!

****comments are now closed. thanks for playing along!****

beeswax egg candle tutorial!

today i will share with you how to make this sweet smelling egg candle!
you will need:
eggs that have been blown out (tutorial at magic onions)
beeswax
wick (i used braided for 2-3" candles)
a long needle or a piece of thin, bendable wire
a small bit of clay
scissors
*melt your beeswax in a bain marie. this is what my set up looks like. i use an aluminum percolator that i found at the thrift shop for $1. the pan is from the thrift store, too. i use beeswax often and these two items live in a box of my beeswax supplies.
*thread your wick through your blown out eggshell. i used a needle to get it through the holes. you could also use a piece of thin, folded wire to thread it through. you want a bit of wick sticking out both ends.
*on the small end of your egg, cover the hole and the wick with clay. keeping your clay very moist will make this step much easier. you can use a little water to smooth out the edges and to ensure you have a good seal.
*place egg in carton with clay side down. i doubled my cartons while working to help soak up any wax spills.
*once your wax is melted, pour it into your egg.
*beeswax shrinks as it cools so you will need to top it off. you could tie your wick around a toothpick or something to hold it in place. i just adjusted mine as the wax began to harden and it worked out fine.
*allow your egg to cool for a considerable time. we left the house to run some errands while ours cooled. then, gently crack it open and begin to peel your shell away. note: if you smash your egg on the counter to break the shell, you will damage the beeswax inside!
most of the wax had shrunk and separated nicely from the shell making the task of peeling rather painless. we did have this problem spot where the shell stuck to the wax. we just kept picking away at it until we removed all of the shell. we were then able to wash off the white residue with soap and water.
*trim your wicks and find a stand for your bee-utiful egg!
notes and variations:

*you can use a blow dryer to warm your egg up and then smooth out any surface scratches or smudges.

*if you do not have a stand, you could make a flat bottom for your egg to sit on by touching the wide end of your egg to a warm pot on the stove. this will melt the wax down just a bit and give you a nice flat surface.

*the wooden stand above was bought at the craft store in the unfinished wood section.

*peel only half of the shell off for a fun, just cracked looked!

*decorate your finished egg with decorating or modeling beeswax.

have fun!!

for the love of beeswax (and renee)

inspired by my very talented friend tracy hildebrand, i set out to make some beeswax ornaments last night. being the middle of winter, tracy had no pressed botanicals handy when she went to make her beeswax lanterns. she improvised with tiny cutters and decorating wax and came up with a sweet star and moon motif. i loved the idea and had been wanting to make this smaller version of the lanterns to have some to hang on the tree.
after the kids were in bed and the beeswax was melted matt and i set about dipping our wee water balloons. he has been busy this season both working long hours and doing quite a bit of making himself (more on that to come!) so this is the first time he has gotten in on the holiday crafting with me this year.
i love his completed ornament! he chose to hang his as a bell rather than a bowl.
it glows bee-utifully when strategically placed near a christmas bulb and releases its soothing aroma (thanks to tracy's daughter, emily, for the tip!).
it's one of my favorites, to be sure. it was difficult to get the balloons to be anywhere near symmetrical when filling them with water. because we were only filling them a little ways, they had a tendency to be lopsided and terribly off center.
finally i had a great shape and was so tickled with the way the above ornament turned out! i am blessed to be in a very special ornament swap (more on that to come, too) and knew this would be just perfect for my partner.

then today i needed that outdoor photo. as i headed out with the two ornaments above and my camera, the ever present multi-tasking monkey on my back took over and steered me toward the mailbox. well, it's christmas eve eve and there are cards and wee packages in the mailbox. as i go to retrieve the first parcel, i dropped my precious ornament, cracking it nearly in half! :( lesson learned. i spent the next hour or so with my hair dryer trying to repair my error. i have patched it well enough to grace my own tree, but not to gift to another.

the beeswax is hot and the intoxicating scent is filling the air and i am ready to go give it another go! i will post pics of the final ornament after it is sent. this one came out much too large to hang on the tree. it sat upright on the counter until inspiration hit and i went to scavenge an led tealight.
this little beauty is now by sienna's bedside. tonight she said she wished she had an extra large one to light the night for her. ;)jasper is obsessed with the beeswax. well, we all are, to be fair. he likes the chunks that haven't been used or the scraps and leftover bits and he also likes to carry around the mold ornaments and make little beds for them. he holds them to his nose and inhales, he rubs his cheeks with them, and breaks the scraps into tiny bits.

his other new habit is sticking his arm down my shirt and fondling my *nurnies* (somehow that word evolved from *nursing*). *they are so warm!*, he will say in his cutest little voice. when these two beeswax forms above were deemed rejects i thought of jasper right away. i tried to pass them off as his beeswax nurnies as a replacement for the need to stick half of his upper body in my sweater. though that didn't work entirely, he did enjoy playing with them today (because they are nifty beeswax cups, not because they are portable breasts!). ;)one last photo for you. since solstice, the beeswax has been flowing around here. we have made a couple of lanterns, poured ornaments into molds, poured our own beeswax tea lights, and made these candles above. also inspired by tracy h and a project she did with her daughter's 2nd grade class, we rolled sheets of beeswax, then dipped them to make them more solid and to burn longer. then we decorated with modeling wax. so fun! the scent of warm beeswax is now interwoven into our holiday traditions for evermore.

here's hoping you have a wonderful christmas weekend with your loved ones! i appreciate each one of you and the beauty you share in this space. with love and appreciation, rae

p.s. happy birthday, renee!!! we love you! xoxoxo

the shortest day

sometimes when you are absent from blogland it can be tough to jump back in. what started with a technical difficulty (note to self: surge protectors only protect through so many surges!) grew into extended silence in this space. i thought i might do a jumble post to *catch up* so to speak. however, i decided instead to take this special day to log back in and wish you a wonderful solstice!
we were so looking forward to the lunar eclipse last night. everyone was prepared to arise in the middle of the night to get a glimpse of the magic in the heavens. mother nature had other plans though and by the middle of the night our skies were too cloudy to view the moon. the overcast mood persists today so our sun prints will have to wait until the sun visits us once again.
so we are nestled inside awaiting the longest night of the year. yesterday we dried and strung orange slices to hang on our tree in honor of the sun. we have done this for several years but this year we added cinnamon sticks to our ornaments after being inspired by linda. i love that they represent warmth as well as add another delicious scent to our home.
this afternoon, we will leave our lights off and allow the darkness to slowly overtake us. we will light candles as needed rather than flipping a switch as usual. we will enjoy a candlelight meal together, another sun pavlova (with secret holiday topping!), and then have our family gift exchange.
the new header photo deserves a little mention. on the left is sienna's st lucia crown she made at school. next is a beeswax candle that jasper rolled in class nestled in a moss garden adorned with crystals that ms jessica made for each child to take home with them over the holidays. we light our candles nightly and think of our classmates as a way to stay connected over the long break. that stunningly beautiful glowing orb is a beeswax lantern made by one of my students, bryce. i just love that he made it for me and feel the love that he put into it. his mom has become quite the beeswax lantern pro and i will be back soon with a little update to my tutorial full of her words of wisdom.

wishing you a warm and light filled night,
rae

corn husk candle holder

corn husks are one of my most favorite autumnal crafting supplies. though i have used them fresh before, i generally buy them from the hispanic/latin market in a big bag for $4.99. last week i found the same bags at our discount grocery for 99 cents!! i bought them all. sorry asheville i can be greedy sometimes. ;)
when i saw these corn husk candle holders, i couldn't wait to make them. literally they moved up my ever growing crafting list that i have little time to allot to already.

it was a fun and gratifying little project. i used a wide mouthed salsa jar from the recycling bin. i attached the husks as in the tutorial above, gluing the tips to the base, gathering them around the jar and securing them with wire. i then tied colored raffia around snugly and removed the wire that had been holding the husks in place. i tucked one of our beeswax coated leaved in the front.
viola! i love it every bit as much as i knew i would!

beeswax lantern tutorial

caution: melted wax is extremely hot! please take all necessary precautions when working with hot wax. hot wax is flammable and can ignite. please do use a thermometer to gauge the temp of your wax as the balloons will pop if your wax is too hot!

these lanterns are just so stunning and they really are easy to make and absolutely magical to create! i want to share this with all of you so that you can make them, too!

i will start by telling you a little story. i recommend that you use a thermometer for your wax. however, i do not. last tuesday we made these in our class. on wednesday, i got out all the supplies and set up our station again so that those students who weren't present the day before could make one and so that i could make some for siblings attending the lantern walk.

i did not plug the crock pot in far enough in advance and the wax never did melt during our free play/ handwork time! so, i left the crock pot turned on (in a safe location) and went about our morning thinking that i would bring the student over when we had a spare moment. well, that moment did not come until a couple of hours later.

as ms joy was telling the story to the class, i checked on the wax. i dipped a leaf in. it fizzed and the leaf curled up. hmmm.....that's never happened before. i turned the crock pot off. it was a good 15 mins or so before story was over and the child and i filled up her balloon with water. i had her stand back as i did the first dip, just in case. sure enough, that wax was too hot to stick a balloon in! fortunately, it did not send wax flying, but the balloon popped and wax boiled over the sides of the pot!

i was afraid my wax would be ruined! however, i let it cool for another 20 mins and then proceeded to make lanterns just fine. i have not had this happen any other time. it is because i had it turned on for too long and the wax just got too hot. so, a thermometer can help you avoid this fate. personally, i use the leaf test. normally when i dip a leaf, there is certainly no fizz and it does not curl up. when i pull it out of the wax it takes only a few seconds to harden. you could also do this project with the double boiler method and perhaps that would eliminate this potential issue.

my crock pot after the wax boiled over!

on to the tutorial! some things to have on hand:

* a crock pot designated for beeswax (thrift store, garage sale, or freecycle are great options)
* balloons (all balloons are not created equal. blow your up and see if it gives you a nice round shape. otherwise your lantern is going to be a bit lopsided)
* water faucet
* lots and lots of beeswax (i suggest you find a beekeeper to buy from, it is much more affordable that way. my friend kelly scores ours for $3 a pound!! that is compared to the $8.49 the health food store and craft stores want!)
* pressed leaves and flowers
* hot glue gun
* a flat plate- to sit your lantern on while you are working
* sharp needle or scissors for popping the balloon
* raffia, if making lanterns


melt a pound or two of beeswax in your crock pot. it is best to use a taller pot so that you have some depth to your hot wax for dipping the balloon. it takes close to an hour in my crock pot to fully melt the wax.

blow your balloon up with air, then let it out. this makes it easier to fill it with water.
next, attach your balloon to the end of your faucet and turn on the water. you want to fill the balloon until it has a nice round shape and is the size of the lantern you wish to make.

holding the balloon by the knot, dip it into the hot wax about 3/4 of the way up the balloon. pull it out and hold it in the air for about 20-30 seconds while the wax hardens. dip it back in up to the same line you made before. do this 5 times letting it harden in between each dip.
after you have dipped it about 5 times, sit it on a plate. using both of your hands around the balloon, flatten the bottom of the lantern on the plate by pushing down and sort of wiggling it side to side. if you get down at eye level you can really watch to make sure that you are getting both the top and the bottom of the lantern pretty even.
dip the wax covered balloon about 5 more times, letting it harden in between each coat. flatten the bottom on the plate again. at this point your lantern should be pretty solid and you will want to add any decorations. if it is not to your desired thickness, continue dipping a few more times.

i used pressed leaves and flowers to decorate. it is helpful to attach them with the hot glue gun. dip the lantern in the wax once again. when you bring it out, use your finger to press down any edges of the leaves that might be sticking out. dip one last time! (you do not want to dip too many times after you have attached the leaves or they will get covered).
now for the excitement...place your lantern in the sink and using your needle or scissors, pop the balloon! the balloon will pull away from the sides and you can pour the water out. at this point, i like to work the top edge of the lantern, folding over any ragged edges to give it a nice clean look (that did not happen with all of the lanterns pictured!).

if you wish to hang your lantern or to have a carrying handle, use a pencil and push through the wax about a 1/2 inch down on each side. we used raffia for our handles. tie a knot on the inside of the lantern, thread it through to the outside of the lantern and pull it over to the other side, threading it back inside the lantern and tie another knot.
we did these in class with our 3-6 year olds. obviously, much assistance is needed with this age group, but i am so glad that we made them a part of it! they were absolutely captivated by the dipping and the hardening of the wax. most of them would hold onto the balloon with us as we dipped. they loved to sit it on the plate and wrap their hands around the warm wax. the smell is absolutely divine! they got to choose their leaves (which they had collected with their families and in class). though most of them did not want to pop the balloon themselves, they LOVED watching it pop and the balloon retract inside!
we also did these with our handwork group last month. it makes for a lovely group project. several ladies worked out of the same pot, taking turns dipping and marveling at the magic happening before our eyes.

at home, we are making these for christmas gifts. the lantern pictured in the top photo does not have holes or a handle. it sits on our table and serves as our meal candle.
i hope this tute is easy to follow! do let me know if you have any additional questions. i hope you enjoy making these as much as we did!

edited to add:

* carey suggests having a bowl of cold water at the ready and going back and forth between the hot wax and the cold water, as when making candles.

* devana had a brilliant suggestion! for finishing the top and bottom- get an old pan, heat it up and just touch the bottom of the lantern on the pan for one second to flatten the bottom so it sits nice. do the same
thing with the lip on the warm flat frying pan. can't wait to try this with my next batch!

* devana also says the temp of the wax should stay between 150-160 and that the water in the balloon should be cold.

thanks gals!

edited: dec 12 *******new lantern*******

i made another lantern recently. i LOVE the way this one turned out. this time i dipped the balloon in the beeswax 20 times before adding the leaves. i used thin leaves (japenese maple) that had been pressed. i held the lantern very close to the crockpot and dipped the leaves one at a time in to the wax. as soon as the leaf came out of the wax, i applied it to the surface of the lantern and carefully smoothed out any tips that were protruding. i will admit that i torched most of my fingerprints off during my waitress days carrying hot plates. so, i do actually touch the wax at this point. this step must be done very quickly before the wax begins to harden.

i did each leaf this way and then dipped the lantern one last time, being careful not to hold it in the wax for long so as not to either melt the wax that was holding the leaves on or to make the layer of the wax on the leaves too thick.

also, this time i did not use the plate at all. i held my lantern during all 21 dips and then afterward used the warm pan on the stove to flatten the bottom and the lip. such a nice finish!

the final product is lovely. before it went on it's way to it's new (still secret) home, it sat on my desk. i fondled it often. it is so smooth and warm and the smell is intoxicating!

have you made any lanterns? thinking of trying? let me know if you do! i would love to see them. have fun!!