Make Beeswax Hearts for Valentines Day.

I love working with beeswax... it's golden glow, it's honey aroma. Especially on a snowy or rainy day, when we are stuck inside... it's a wonderfully warming craft. Beeswax is a natural material so rich in sensory gifts. When K sees me getting it out, she rushes to smell it. She breathes in it's honey scent with deep pleasure. T loves to hold it, rubbing his hands along it's waxy surface. Tactile, olfactory, visual... beeswax is a lovely medium for a child to explore.

Today we made Beeswax Hearts to decorate our home for Valentines Day.

We needed...

Beeswax

Sticky tape

Hemp string

Moulds

I have a few bars of this wonderful beeswax for sale in myFairyfolk Etsy shop. And a few sets of the heart-shaped moulds as I know they are very hard to come by.

To make the hearts, I cut off the required amount of beeswax.

Make a baine-marie by boiling a pot of water on the stove. Put a recycled glass jar into the gently boiling water and your beeswax into the glass jar. This bain-marie melts the wax gently and safely.

While you are waiting for your wax to melt, cut a hanging loop from your string. Our hanging loops were about 1.5 inches long.

Make your loop and put the sticky tape around it to keep it in place. This will insure that your hanging loop stays fixed in the right place when you put it into the wax.

Bend your hanging loop at a 90 degree angle about halfway down.

When your wax is melted, safely pour it into your moulds. I make my children stand well back when I pour wax as a nasty accident would hurt them terribly. I also have a precautionary bowl of iced water on hand whenever we work with hot wax.

Set your moulds aside for the wax to cool.

When the wax has cooled for a few minutes, it is time to insert the hanging loop. The best time to do this is when a very thin crust has formed on the top of the wax. Break this crust a little to see the melted wax under it and insert the hanging loop into this hole, submerging it into the melted wax.

Let your beeswax cool fully. It will shrink slightly, making it easy to extract from the mould.

Gently loosen the wax from the mould by putting pressure on the sides and your heart should pop out easily.

Thread a ribbon through your hanging loop and hang your wonderful Valentine Heart in a place of honor. We have one hanging in our window, catching the warm winter sun. K has put one on her bedroom door, letting everyone know that Love lives there and I have put one on the wall in our living room. Whenever we pass our beeswax hearts, we get their wonderful scent, reminding us that Love is all that matters.

Please visit my Etsy shop, Fairyfolk, as I have listed a few bars of organic beeswax and a few sets of the heart moulds.

Have some leftover beeswax, why not make these cute beeswax acorns?

And, the PUZZLED GIVEAWAY ends on Sunday 24th January 10, so pop on over to have a chance to win a gorgeous, customized puzzle.

Blessings and magic.