May 3rd, 2023
Everyone has that one thing they enjoy more than anything to pass the time. It might be knitting, clothespin art, or even painting. For those of you looking for new or more challenging hobbies, we’ve got you covered. Below, we’ve picked out ultimate, step-it-up activities to push your perseverance and boost your creativity.
Candle-Making
For some reason, child-me loved power outages. It was a time when everyone had to put the electronics down, get out the matches for the propane stovetop, and light some candles—those very tiny, one-use deals you get in a tray. Today, I keep some of them on standby in my own house for the same reason, but also if I decide to make marshmallows in my living room. Remember, never leave open flames unsupervised.According to Parkscandles.com, people have been using candles for centuries. During the Qin Dynasty in China, candlemakers used whale fat to make their candles. Elsewhere, beeswax was common. In 500 BC, Romans utilized beef or lamb tallow, along with a strand of twine. People in India used cinnamon with yak butter, and Indigenous Alaskans and Canadians favored the candlefish. Joseph Morgan of Manchester used a braided wick in place of a twisted one, which made it last longer. After perfecting his materials, he built a machine that produced 1,500 of these fire sticks in a single hour. Then, in the 1850s, James Young distilled paraffin from coal and oil shales, creating an inexpensive wax variety that, when combined with stearic acid in the 19th century, was known for its durability and lengthened use.Today, you can choose the attributes you want a candle to have by what kind of wax and oil scent you use. Paraffin, soy, coconut, and beeswax vary in burning length, transparency, smell, and environmental cleanliness (note: while there’s no definitive study stating burning paraffin is harmful, exposure to burning the chemicals in it have been linked to higher rates of cancer). For fragrance, you can double up on aromatherapy (just be careful which ones you use if there are kids or pets around). Containers? Just make sure they can hold up to the temperatures the melted wax and flame will be.Think this might be your ultimate hobby? For instructions on how to do it with project material examples, watch this beginner’s tutorial.—Grace Desotell, Hobbies Editor