How to make a heart shaped floating candle

This project can be a lot of fun because it has endless possibilities
once you let your imagination flow. My kids also have hours of fun
making these very simple candles especially on weekends when they
are bored to death as they put it.

Firstly you have to find a baking tray that you would not get into trouble
for using. I find that the deeper baking trays are better because they
allow me to make thicker candles, but that's up to you and what you
have available to you of course.

The next step is to prepare your work area so that it is ready for action
but above all it should be safe especially if little are going to get involved
making candles.

You will also need candle dye, a basic paraffin candle wax as well as
stearin. The reason for the stearin is that is makes the candle harder and
improves the colour of the dye and the other reason is that it makes the
finished candle float a better. However stearin is not a must if you don't
have it available to you as paraffin wax will float just fine.

Start melting the paraffin wax to about 75 degrees celcius and apply a
mould release agent to the inside of the baking tray. Add wax dye and
about 20% stearin to your paraffin wax and even wax fragrance if you
like. Once your mixture is ready you can slowly pour it into the baking
tray untill the wax is about 2cm or more deep but take care as it can
splatter quite a bit and wax is not easy to get out of clothing.

Make sure there are no heavy drafts as this can cause ripples on the
cooled wax which does not give you a smooth textured finished.
However do not worry to much as you can always overdip your
candles afterwards.

Now you have to wait for the floating candle wax to cool down untill it
is warm but still firm. The wax should almost feel like a stiff dough to the
touch. Now you grab a heart shaped cookie cutter or you easily make a
template from carboard. Start at once side by pressing out the heart shapes
as if you were making cookies, untill the whole tray has been done. Start by
removing the outer wax from the tray by slowly pulling it out. The easiest is
to pretend you are baking cookies and working with dough.

Next take out your heart shapes and press a hole in the middle with a
toothpick and insert primed wick that has been cut to size. It is very
important to use a thin wick otherwise your floating candles will not
burn for very long. Wait for your candle to cool down completely and
lastly you should overdip them in wax to create a seal that will prevent
water from seaping into your wick cavity.

The shapes that you can make are endless and kids love helping with
this project because it is like playing with dough. Hope you have fun
with this one.