Thomas was out-of-town during my birthday, so instead I had the wonderful pleasure of spending the day with my girls and some of my best friends. We all visited an old candle factory that had been turned into a DIY candle making shop. When we walked in, the kids' eyes popped at all of the colors of wax.
First, we had to choose a mold. Then we sat at a table and waited for the teacher to instruct us how to fill the mold. The kids just loved running their hands through all of the chunks of wax. Hanna got some practice naming colors.
So step one was to fill the mold with wax.
Here's the view of the main room.
And a close-up of all the wax.
And closer still...
Hanna checking out the orange pieces.
Neo Neo and Maya discussing which colors to use.
Ke Xuen, Neo Neo, and Maya.
Add one more, and you get four...
Teacher explaining to the children that it's better to choose the smaller pieces, so all of the nooks and crannies in the mold get filled in. Also, no eating!
Maya's mold. It's cylindrical with a rose pattern all around.
So proud.
Almost done!
Here's Hanna's mold. She chose a pyramid shape with some leafy-floral pattern.
Fill 'er up!
Neo Neo and Lou.
Step two, get the air out by adding boiling water.
Pouring boiling water into the mold.
I have absolutely no idea what this machine is called, but she put Maya's mold in there and turned it on, and, POOF! Two minutes later you could stick a fork in it. Not really.
Step three, put the candle in water.
Maya and Lou removing the candle from the mold. Notice it still has a plastic casing on it.
Pop that into the bucket of water and wait for about 20 minutes.
I didn't get any pictures of the next part because I had a two-year-old who decided she didn't want to leave my side :) But, basically, we took the candles out of the water and removed the plastic casing. Then we brought them to an elderly gentleman who was seated at a high wooden table. He was very kind to the children, but he only spoke Taiwanese, so they didn't understand him. He had a hot plate in front of him, and he used it to smooth out the rough edges and the bottoms of the candles. Then he placed a company sticker on the bottom of each candle, so we could remember where they came from.
Finally, we took the finished candles to the decoration station. The children put some glitter on the candles, and then this young lady wrapped them up in plastic and some ribbon.
And, yes, once again I've forgotten to include a photo of the final product. I'll try and get it up here this weekend. I have to say they're really lovely, and the girls are so proud of their work. I have them on display near our front door, and every time someone comes over Maya is sure to point out her masterpiece.
How neat-o!
