Using Pressed Flowers and Grasses
In order to use plant materials for appliquéing, they must first be dried. To dry leaves, grasses, flowers, herbs, etc., lay them flat between two sheets of tissue paper inside the middle pages of a heavy book.
You should prepare your dried flowers, grasses, herbs, or other plant material at least ten days or so before you plan to use them. You might gather wild grasses from your backyard or use flower petals or whole flowers from your garden or the florist shop.
Be aware that some flowers will take longer to dry than others. In general, grasses and petals will dry in a week to ten days. Whole flowers like geraniums, alyssum, and pansies may take as long as three weeks to dry properly. These, however, are excellent choices for appliquéing on candles.
Candles of almost any shape can be appliquéd successfully. However, choose shapes that will complement the plant material. Long grasses would look best on a tall, slender pillar or block candle. A single pansy might be perfect on a globe-shaped candle. You might use a spray of leaves to decorate a tall pillar, and leave room at the top for a flower.
Pressed flowers — and other plant material — work especially well in “church candles,” which are made with beeswax. They not only burn longer, but because beeswax is naturally sticky, it is easier to attach the flowers and leaves to it.
What is the appliqué technique in candlemaking?
The appliqué technique is attaching relatively flat plant material to the candle's surface. Alternatively, you can attach shapes made from thin sheets of wax cut into various shapes such as stars, flowers, hearts, and the like.
As for choosing colors, it is best to stick to white or pale candles, which set off the colors of the dried grasses or flower petals. For example, if you are going to use dark green grasses, they would look nice against a light green background. Purple pansies would be outstanding against a pale lilac background.
Variations on a ThemeYou can use three variations of the “adhere and overdip” technique with natural material such as flowers, leaves, herbs, grasses, and the like.
Using straight pins, pin the surface decorations to the candle, sticking the pins in straight; then overdip. (These pins will be removed later; keep reading.)
Dip the plant material itself into melted wax and stick it onto the candle while the wax coating is still hot.
Use the rounded backside of a heated spoon to warm the candle's surface. To do this, heat the spoon (you can lean it against the back of an electric iron or dip it in boiling water) and press it against the plant material laid on the candle. This will soften the wax under the dried plant stuff, melting it into the candle.
Once you have attached your dried flowers or grasses to the candle, overdip the entire candle in clear wax at 205° Fahreinheit for three seconds.
Remove candle from overdipping wax and while the surface is still warm, with your fingers or a spoon or the flat of a knife, press all the ends and stems of the plant fibers firmly into the candle's surface. Make sure everything adheres flat and nothing is sticking out. If you used pins, remove them.
Return the candle to the overdipping wax can and immerse it for two seconds. Then plunge the candle into cold water.
