Gel Candle Designs: Romantic & Colorful Wedding Flutes

lBy Kathy Heindel, Design Artist of Hotscents

Ask some men, and they'll tell you they don't understand what a woman means when she says the word "romance" ... hence, the reason why so many grooms seem to "leave the wedding" up to the bride!

To try to explain it doesn't seem to work if you should ever attempt to try ... I guess it's just one of those things that is sometimes best communicated with non-verbal entities ... and that's how my wedding gel candles I'm about to share with you about came to be, as I think the "hidden message" in these candles has to do with romance.

Two champagne flutes with a rainbow between them ... one of the candles with red, orange, yellow; the other with green, blue/indigo, and violet.

The full spectrum when stood together ... separate in their own right, yet complete with the company of the other.

Maybe some guys could even get this message!

These candles are created at a diagonal to sort of fit into the theme of a curved rainbow and were created by pouring each layer and allowing it to set firmly before the next layer was poured.

The instruction for these candles is a bit self-evident, especially for experienced candlemakers; so, I'd like to take this opportunity to simply touch on a minor design technique that makes a big difference in
a subtle, but elegant way when working with stemware. This may be nothing new to many of you, but for crafters just getting into stemware gel candles, this may serve as a useful lesson.

Have you ever noticed that when most people hold stemware, that they will often times gaze UP into the candle? It must have something to do with the stem, such as when toasting and raising a glass. With this vantage point in mind, if your wick tab was placed directly in the bottom of the glass, without any concealment, the admirer of this candle will first see a metal wick tab. This is why I strongly suggest to do something to conceal it.

I like to use craft glitter, or, glass beads can also work for this. Some finer grade glitters may work, but sometimes they are too light and the glitter doesn't seem to sink to the bottom properly the
way heavier craft glitter does, which is what we want in this particular application. This is one of the reasons why I select a medium grade or craft glitter for this concealing method, as it really does
conceal the wick tab very well.

Since the glitter lies at the very bottom of the glass with this method, under and away from the wick, you don't have to worry about any "wick-clogging" effects from the glitter usage. In other words, you can use as much as you feel is necessary to adequately "hide" your wick tab.

Here's how to do it ... pour a bit of glitter into the bottom of the glass. Then, pour a bit of gel (either clear, or the color of the gel you are going to be pouring for the bottom layer) ... this should be a very small amount of hot gel. Then, place your wick tab (already wicked) into the bottom of the glass and press on all sides of it with a metal pick to press it in and secure it. The glitter should remain trapped between the bottom of the bottom of the wick tab and the glass. (See close-up photo of bottom
of the glass.)

This little "finishing" touch that is performed at the beginning of creating the candle, gets your elegant stemware candle off to a grand start, with attention to detail at the top of your list and fine details at the bottom of the glass. If it's true that elegance should be kept simple, then this simple technique should do the trick!

May you raise your stemware gel candles with pride!

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