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This year, I was looking for something new and creative to do with the kids that would produce a useful end product, something we could use ourselves or gift to others, and I stumbled on this beautiful beeswax candle modeling kit. I ordered a set, and once it arrived, saved it for a rainy day.

Last Wednesday, with nothing on the calendar and a gloomy day outside, we set up our work area. We turned on background music, covered the table with newspaper (to make cleanup easier), and got to work.

Having never rolled a candle, we first watched this video to get a sense of what to do. Based on their recommendations, we did use a hair dryer to warm each sheet before rolling to make it less likely to crack.

We started by measuring our wicks and then rolling away from us. We paid attention that we kept the rolls tight and lined up on the end. My girls ended up mostly rolling straight candles, while J played with tapers and other designs.

When they had finished rolling and carefully sealing the edges, I pulled out these cute shape cutters which I had… ahem… bought 5 years ago and then decided that decorating my kids’ food was too much work. They were the perfect size for decorating the candles with extra wax scraps in complementary colors.

Two hours later, the kids were still happy and smiling, and we had created a dozen unique candles that they were so excited to use and share and gift. Little note: save the paper that comes between the layers to wrap the individual candles if you’re storing or shipping the candles.

We loved this activity. It was creative, tactile, flexible and forgiving. We were creating useful and (literally) light-giving items, collaborating, sharing resources, and celebrating each others’ successes. In fact, I already ordered another set (the pastels) to create our advent candles this year.

It’s part of our mission this year to live intentionally with what we can do well, and we may have created a new tradition – the kids are already asking for us to make more next year!