Marbling: Hammering Your Candles

Hammering

Hammering creates a speckled, textured marble which varies with the shape of the hammering tool. The process is a simple matter of hammering indentations into the candle and overdipping it in a contrasting color of wax.

You will need:

White candle (a ball shape is best)
Towel
Hammer
Dip and carve wax

Candle dye – 2 colors

Dipping can

Knife

Place the candle on the towel on a sturdy flat surface. Hammer the indentations all over the candle with a firm blow, but do not crush the candle. Melt about 3-4 ounces of the wax and add candle dye. Dip the candle into the melted wax in the dipping can several times to build up a very thin layer of colored wax on the outside of the candle. Allow the candle to cool for a minute.

Now hammer the candle again, creating new indentations over the soft surface of the colored candle. As you hammer, you will see that a little white shows through from beneath the colored wax. This is a desired result. Melt about 3-4 ounces of the wax and add a different candle dye. Dip the candle into the mixture as you did before with the first color. Allow the candle to cool for a few minutes.

Using the knife, scrape off a top layer of wax to reveal the previous color and some of the white beneath this top layer. The color in the depressions will remain the same, but the scraped off flat surface will show the first color. You can then dip your candle in a final clear wax to both preserve the marbled effect and slightly soften it. You now have a lovely mottled marble look. This effect would work great with wood or metal colors for a faux finished candle.

Bath Alchemy by The Bonnie Bath Co.

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