Gel Candles: Creative & Beautiful Candles to Make - Softcover

Dawn Cusick; Rankin, Chris

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1579902162 ISBN 13: 9781579902162

Publisher: Lark Books, 2001

Synopsis

All you need to do to work with this medium is melt and pour. The excitement is in the embellishing: tint, scent, or imbed something surprising in the gel. Make a Christmas snow globe, wedding and birthday gifts, even glow-in-the-dark candles. Inspiring projects range from fun to funky—like a candle in a martini glass garnished with an olive—to simply beautiful (with gold angels inside).

About this title

Review:

Relatively new to the candle-making kingdom, gel is a readily available, adaptable substance that can be transformed into all sorts of fascinating candle looks. By melting the jelly-like goop, adding color and perhaps fragrance, and pouring into a heatproof container with a wick, anyone can whip up one-of-a-kind candles. Dawn Cusick's Gel Candles presents a stunning selection of gel candle creations. Sometimes the containers define the style: Moroccan painted glasses, Easter candles in glass eggs, a teacup, an etched bud vase. But more often what makes the candle unique are the items embedded within: beads, wire, seashells, metal charms, marbles, tiny ceramic figures. The transparency of the gel--even when tinted--enables the treasures to shine through.

Overall, the step-by-step directions are adequate, and the author includes numerous safety precautions. Some of the embedded choices, however, appear rather questionable: silk flowers, plastic toys, and paper photocopies all appear in projects, and although the author warns to keep such items away from the wick and to extinguish the flame when it comes within one inch of the container bottom, such warnings seem insufficient, especially for beginners. And the wicks themselves are often short and unanchored, threatening more hazards if they burn too long. With these caveats in mind, Gel Candles is a worthwhile, whimsical idea-filled guide to the subject. --Amy Handy

From Library Journal:

Gel, a transparent, oil-based, gelatin-like substance, is the newest medium for candle making. It burns longer than wax and makes a clear or bubbly candle in a glass container. The projects in this book all use common glass containers such as drinking glasses or fishbowls with decorative objects embedded to give interest. For instance, insect-repellent candles have plastic bugs, a fishbowl candle has a ceramic shark, and bubbly candles can be made in champagne glasses. Public libraries already having conventional candle-making books will want to add this for gel crafters.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Lark Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1579902162
• ISBN 13: 9781579902162
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96