ESSENTIAL OIL SOY CANDLES

I had been thinking about making Soy candles for a such a long time which began way back when a muddle puddle (Mum B) said her daughter (Miss J) would like to make candles. I Kind of put it on the back burner. Then just a week ago I was passing a soy candles shop & thought why not! I went into said shop, & bought my supplies.
Then, next up was a shopping bonanza to the op shops to find containers to hold these candles. This is the beginning of a friendship between multitudes of op shops & me.......

I already had plenty of aromatherapy oils as at one point in my life I was very into aromatherapy, read & knew most of all the healing benefits etc. However will need to update my knowledge on these oils &  purchase new ones as they do go out of date & don't hold the same healing qualities as if they are new. With what I did have in my aromatherapy supply, I was able to make a few LOVE combination candles.Once I had all my supplies, I couldn't wait to get started, A little Miss M wanted to join in too, so she made one as well (more on that later)
I did a little research on Soy candles vs Paraffin candles. As I was never too 
fussed or worried about heading into my local $2 shop to supply my home with candles, even though I did know some information about Soy candles & did kind of know they were better for our environment, I couldn't see the sense in buying more expensive Soy candles. However, Knowledge is Power, so I read what I could find about SOY vs PARAFFIN, There's a heap of information out there but what I can gleam from that information & to put it simply Soy is made from Soy beans, Paraffin is made from crude oil. I know which one I would rather have burning in my house even if Paraffin is claimed to be just as safe as Soy. I had heard lots of claims, the biggest one is that soy candles don't burn soot or leave black soot, well there is no such thing as a soot free candle however more than likely the soy candles will burn a white grey or a beige colored soot - very hard to see, whereas the soot that paraffin puts out is black. Any candle will soot if it's burning inefficiently - that is, if the balance of wick, wax and container is off. (candle is placed in a drafty area)
The fact that crude oil/Paraffin is not a renewable source & to process it causes pollution, makes it environmentally unfriendly. Soy is renewable, so long as their are farmers out there willing to farm Soy Beans, Soy wax will be made. Soy candles will also last twice as long as the cheap Paraffin ones do.
As far as the wicks go, they are cotton, there has been much said about lead wicks, these are banned in Australia. Cotton lead free wicks are what is available to candle makers here in this country.
The only downside with Soy candles is that its impossible to make freestanding candles like the Paraffin ones as the Soy wax is too soft, Soy has to be poured to containers
So far for us here at muddle puddle the making process has been lots of fun, can't wait to see whats on the horizon for this candle making caper, stay tuned............

Master R & his Nanna, Textiles & Teddy Bear making

Hi ya'll

Finally got a completed project to show you. This time done by Muddle Puddles Master R. & his Nanna. As you know a few of us home schooling mums here at M.P. try to fit in activities that most kids at school would accomplish.

 The past few weeks Master R has been working on TEXTILES with his Nanna. 

Bear making! I think it turned out terrific. Its so good i want to try & make one myself except a no fur one, just one made with material.

 Master R, never chooses to do things by halves, I suggested just a plain easy cut out pattern you can draw up yourself, NO he says, I want to make this just like the ones in the shops.

 lets start with the most difficult not the easiest. OK!

 He chose to do this as he wanted to make it for our lovely friend, who's due to have a new baby boy in about 6 weeks!

So first up, Nanna had a pattern to copy from a New Idea magazine Tonia Todman Teddy Bear Making, He & His Nanna painstakingly up scaled a pattern by graph from the New Idea Magazine but as it turned out we could of just used the pattern that the fur came with. Oh well live & learn.

 Master R cut & Pinned all the patterned pieces making sure he had labelled pieces so we knew which piece to attach to which piece once cut out

 So once all cut, the first to sew together was the head, as well as getting his eyes on.

            Head & eyes completed successfully, He looks a bit odd at the moment with no body.

 Just Keep sewing, sewing, sewing! :-)

All the body bits are connected by following patterns instructions as per G to G

F to F A to A etc etc,  Arms & Legs had turning circles in them so as the arms & legs would move.

Nana embroidered nose & mouth on as well as sewing on his ears.

AND FINALLY we have a Teddy Bear although very flat.

So now we are up to the fun, just keep stuffing!!! almost complete!! 

AND here he is INTRODUCING to you all a TEDDY BEAR named GEORGE 

hand made by Master R & his Nanna!