Death Waxed Over - Tim Myers [51]
“Well, this is pretty straightforward. We melt the gel we need, then arrange our accessories and pour in the wax.”
“That’s all?” she asked.
“You can make it much more complicated. I’ve made some sea floor scenes with sand and shells, and I made one with a light blue tint and added tiny airplanes for a birthday party. It’s fun, you’ll like it.” I added, “Hang on a second, let me get you a few of my examples.”
I dashed out front, grabbed some of the gel candles I’d made recently and brought them back in. As I walked back to the classroom, I saw Eve waiting on the woman with the frosted beehive hairdo again and found myself wondering where I’d seen her besides the candleshop. There was no time to pursue it at the moment, but it was still driving me crazy.
I showed Mrs. J the samples. She studied them for a minute, then said, “Why are there varying amounts of bubbles?”
“That’s one of the neat things about this technique. It’s all based on the temperature of the gel when you pour it. You get a lot more bubbles at a hundred and eighty degrees than you do at two-ten. The bubbles are almost entirely eliminated then.”
“So why don’t you heat the wax to two hundred and fifty degrees and make it clear?”
I shrugged and said, “I’ve heard that you can preheat the container in an oven, but I haven’t tried it myself. I do know that if you get the wax too hot, you’ll scorch it.” I knew from experience how closely you had to watch the temperature on the thermometer to be sure you didn’t overheat it.
Mrs. Jorgenson didn’t say anything, but she began collecting a handful of smaller stones, and on a whim she added a small piece of birch bark.
“Okay, now let’s heat the wax, and you can make your layout plan while it’s melting,” I told her.
I opened the tub and showed her what the gel wax looked like in its container. She touched it tentatively, then pulled back her finger. “It’s not at all what I expected. It’s so rubbery.”
“When it’s heated, it will be totally liquid,” I said. The first time I’d made gel candles, I’d heated the wax in a double boiler, but that took forever. I learned it worked fine in a regular pan, and had the advantage of being a lot quicker.
“Now, while that’s melting,” I said, “let’s pick out a few containers for you. Would you like to add a color?” I asked, knowing that Mrs. Jorgenson would never go for it. She believed the basics had to be mastered before anything extra could be added.
She shocked me by saying, “Why not? How about some red?”
“That’s the spirit,” I said, grabbing a small chunk of the red dye.
Mrs. Jorgenson said, “Can we add it after we’ve poured the first one? I’d like to have one of each.”
“Mrs. Jorgenson, we can do whatever you’d like.” As the wax started to melt, I stirred it a little, then checked the temperature with one of our thermometers.
“We’re at a hundred and eighty-five,” I said.
She looked at her watch, then said, “Oh, dear, I can’t wait much longer. Can we pour now?”
“If you don’t mind the bubbles, we’re ready,” I said.
“Bubbles are fine. Let’s pour.”
I transferred the gel wax into a container with a spout, then handed it to her. “Now just pour the wax around the wick. It’s okay if you get some wax on it, it will peel right off. That’s good,” I said as she made her pour.
Mrs. Jorgenson handed the pot back to me, and I poured it back into the pan. The gel wax quickly liquefied again, and I handed the dye to my pupil. “Go ahead and put it in.”
“There’s not much here,” she said.
“Remember, a little goes a long way.”
Once it was ready, I transferred it yet again into the pouring container and she quickly had a second candle.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“Give it a little time to set up, then you’re ready to burn it.”
She studied the top of the second candle and said, “It’s rather bumpy, isn’t it?”
I pulled out a hair dryer and said, “Just give it a quick shot from this and it will be fine.”
She did as I suggested, and the candle’s top evened out. “That