Today the Wrangler and I headed over to the Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano for the beeswax candle-making class. The Ecology Center is in a bright, airy farmhouse built by Pony Express rider Joel Congdon in 1878. Five of us gathered in the pleasant farmhouse kitchen to learn how to melt and pour beeswax. Yes, it's as easy as it sounds. The beeswax from a local hive looks lovely and natural and smells like fresh, delicious honey. I couldn't help but feel ashamed of the unnatural and probably toxic sparkly and fake-scented candles I have around the house. Pouring votive and mason jar candles takes just seconds (and about an hour to dry), and dipping tapers is oddly therapeutic--like kneading bread. I can't believe I haven't been making my own candles. Well, that is going to change. I remember my dad making candles by melting old candles in a coffee can. When I told him about the class tonight, he introduced me to another candle project--ice candles. Apparently, if you pour the wax over a cup of ice, it creates beautiful candles with lots of small holes.
The best thing about this activity is that if you somehow mess up or aren't happy with the candles, you can just re-melt the beeswax and try again.
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