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Keeping a Candle Making Journal

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Writing photo by CierpkiA candle making journal is necessary when you’re experimenting with different candle wax formulas, shapes, scents and wicks.

You’ll want to record some of these things in your candle journal: type of wax used, whether there were any additives, amount of scent, dye and size of wick.

(Writing photo by Cierpki)

Temperature of the wax

Another thing to record is the temperature of the wax when poured as well as the actual temperature in your home. These things can really affect how your candle turns out. For example, with palm wax, it feathers (crystallizes) much more if it’s poured hot and cools down slowly. If it cools too fast, it might not feather at all. On the other hand, some waxes like container blends and soy work better poured at a lower temperature because they’ll shrink less and appear smoother in their containers.

Usually, the candle supplier will include directions for the ideal temperature for pouring your wax. Sometimes, when you’re mixing waxes and additives, you need to figure this out yourself.

Write down how the formula worked out

Besides all these details, the thing that matters the most in your candle making journal is the end result. The reason it’s so important to record what you’re doing is that like cooking, sometimes you inadvertently stumble upon some magic recipe and if you don’t keep track of what you did, it stinks not being able to create that same effect.

Once you have a few failures and successes under your belt, you can hopefully duplicate your successes consistently. Also, if you have the perseverance, you can fine tune your candle making failures by adjusting your wax formula, temperature or wick.

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Learn about Bulgaria for Kids

Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is in Southeastern Europe that’s bordered by Greece, Turkey, Serbia, North Macedonia and the Black Sea. It was founded from an empire that deeply influenced the Slavic nations and was once part of the Eastern bloc controlled by Russia.

Bulgaria Facts

  • Bulgaria is 42,855 square miles, or 110,994 square kilometers, with a population near 6.5 million.
  • Its capital and largest city is Sofia.
  • The Bulgarian Empire, from which the nation takes its name, took power in the area in the late 7th century and developed Cyrillic script, which is used for many Slavic languages. The country was under Ottoman rule for almost five centuries, but it declared its independence in 1908.
  • Bulgaria sided with Germany in both world wars and became part of the Eastern bloc led by the Soviet Union in 1946. The Communist Party ceded control in the late 1980s and Bulgaria adopted a democratic constitution in 1991.
  • It is a unitary parliamentary republic with a president and a prime minister as well as a National Assembly.
  • The word Bulgar might have some from a word meaning to mix or stir, or a derivative of that word that means revolt or disorder. About 85 percent of the country is ethnically Bulgarian, and the official language is Bulgarian.

Bulgarian National Symbols

The Bulgarian flag is made of three horizontal stripes, one white, one green and one red. It was adopted when they gained independence from the Ottoman Empire.

The national anthem, “Mila Rodino,” or “Dear Motherland,” was adopted in 1964 but its lyrics have been changed many times, most recently in 1990, and a shortened version was approved in 1991.

The Eurasian griffon vulture is considered the national bird, and a lion is used as it heraldic symbol.

The patron saint of Bulgaria is Saint John of Rila, the first Bulgarian hermit, whose followers founded many churches in his honor, including the famous Rila Monastery, now a UNESCO World Heritage site (and a very cool looking building).

The national instrument is the kaba gaida, a bagpie that is native to Bulgaria.

Bulgaria Activities for Kids

Listen to the kaba giada in this video, or you can listen for two hours(!) here.

Learn more about Bulgarian folk dancing and watch some people doing it. The people in this video are also wearing traditional Bulgarian folk costumes, which is fun to see. (As a knitter I love those socks!) You can learn more about Bulgarian folk costumes here or at Meet the Slavs.

See what your name looks like in Cyrillic and see if you can write it! You can also learn the sounds of the Bulgarian alphabet here.

Learn more about Bulgaria from Kids World Travel Guide, or check out the resources available at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Wonders of Bulgaria has a good rundown of traditional Bulgarian foods you might want to try. For kids I’d suggest their version of moussaka, which is like the Greek dish only made with potatoes and not eggplant or zucchini. The Modern Nonna has a version that includes carrots, but they’re optional.