Creating candles


Candles come in all sizes, shapes and colours and are easy to make. Not only do they have great decorative value, they make for great gifts too.
You will need:
~ Paraffin wax
~ Wicks
~ Moulds, or a steel/ glass container (chocolate moulds will also do)
~ An aluminum pot/ vessel to melt the wax
~ A wooden spoon to stir the wax
~ Vaseline or oil for greasing
~ Wax colour (wax crayons are useful too)
~ Scented or aromatic oils if you want to make scented candles

Method:
~ Start by melting just a little wax -- dip the wicks in melted wax and set them aside to cool (this will help them light easily once they are part of your candle). Also keep your moulds ready by greasing their insides with oil or vaseline.
~ Place the paraffin wax in the aluminum pot and start heating on a low flame. If you like, add some wax colour or dip the wax crayons into the wax while it is melting, to obtain the desired colour. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon, so the colour mixes properly.
~ Turn off the heat. Place the wicks in the candle moulds and then pour in the melted wax, making sure to hold one end of each wick in the centre of the mould till it is full -- else it may get drowned in the wax. Make sure there are no air bubbles and leave the wax to cool in the moulds.
~ Once the wax has set solidly, turn the mould upside down and tap it lightly. Refrigerating the moulds also helps neatly remove the candle from them.
~ Decorate the candles with dried/ artificial flowers, sequins, lace or whatever else you desire. You can either stick them on, or heat a spoon and touch it to the candles, wherever you want to add on the decoration. As the wax melts, add the flowers, sequins etc.
~ For scented candles, add four to five drops of scented/ aromatic oils to the wax when it is in a liquid form. However, make sure that you don't add the scented/ aromatic oils when the wax is very hot -- preferably, pour it into the mould and then add the oils.
~ If you plan to make gel candles, you can follow the same procedure as outlined above. Make sure to use a double boiler to melt the gel wax, however, as it can catch fire if heated directly on a high flame. Gel candles are set in transparent moulds, like wine glasses or candle glasses, available in all sizes and shapes. Moreover, since gel wax is transparent, you can add decorations of your choice, like shells, pebbles, beads, and even tiny cartoon figurines to the candles.

Ravishing rangolis


While most people these days prefer to use readymade cut-outs to create rangoli patterns in and around their homes, there are a few who would rather do it -- or try to do it -- by hand!
What you need:
~ Chalk
~ Rangoli powder (rice powder coloured with dye)
~ Additional rangoli decorations like flower petals, turmeric powder, zari etc (optional)

Method:
~ Swab the area where you will be creating your rangoli (it should be a smooth, flat surface) with a wet cloth and wait for it to dry.
~ Next, using a piece of chalk, draw your rangoli design on the surface -- it can be any design of your choice, but make sure it is of a symmetric nature. If you're not too good at free-hand, you can use tracing paper to outline a design of your liking and then using a pair of scissors, cut the desired shapes into it. This will serve as your very own homemade rangoli cutout.
~ Now comes the hard part. Using the rangoli powder, you have to fill in the design -- take pinches of the powder between your thumb and index finger and fill in the empty areas, staying well within the lines.
~ Besides powder, you can also use flower petals, yellow or orange coloured dal) and zari to lend colour to your rangoli. You can also use place diyas around or on your rangoli to add a festive touch.