Which wax is best? – Craft Gossip

It depends on what you’re using it for. If you want to make rolled candles, beeswax is best because it’s more malleable than paraffin. Spiral candles are fun and easy to make. You just warm a beeswax sheet a little until it softens and then cut the sheet into a triangle, place the wick along the edge and roll. Beeswax generally requires a thicker wick than those used with paraffin.

Paraffin is an inexpensive wax and easy to work with. You can purchase it in slabs, beads or pellets.

Soybean wax is gaining in popularity because it’s less sooty and safer for animals and children. It also burns longer than paraffin and is easier to clean up. There is a blend called Para-Soy wax which is a 70/30 blend of soy and paraffin.

Candle gel is very pretty and because it is translucent you can display decorative objects inside of your candle. It also burns slower than paraffin. Candle gel is mineral oil made into a gel with the addition of a polymer similar to vybar which is a common additive for candles.

Bayberry is an expensive type of wax that comes from bayberries. It’s a hard wax with a strong smell that burns well.

Howtmakecandles.info goes into the various types of wax in greater detail. They also have a lot of interesting historical trivia such as the fact that William Proctor was a candle maker and James Gamble was a soap maker.

What’s your favorite wax? I haven’t tried them all and surely have missed one.

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The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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Have you read?