Some of our newly made beeswax taper candles

The day after thanksgiving is Buy Nothing Day. While we didn’t specifically set out to Make Something on Buy Nothing Day, I do believe the “holiday” was made all the better by deciding to make some beeswax taper candles in preparation for winter.

Making hand-dipped candles is one of the most wholesome activities I can think of. Wholesome because of the amazing smells of the process, the time available to reflect on the incredible depth of bee energy necessary to create such an astounding natural product, the visitations of the bees themselves as we dip candle after candle, and the routine of it all. Needless to say, it’s an enjoyable process, and the satisfaction of a restocked cache of candles gives me such a glorious feeling of security, too.

Our friend Jesse goes in for a dip

We ended up making over 200 candles. As soon as we’re done with our remodeling work on the house, we’re switching back to candlelight. April and I lived for years in Gobcobatron and Strawtron by candlelight, and I miss those days. The new house will stay wired for using a chest freezer and fridge and a computer/internet, but all the lightbulbs are coming out. My natural rhythm is so much improved when artificial lights are out of the picture.

p.s. By the way, this year we may be toying with some short format workshops, either a single day or afternoon… candlemaking is one of the possible ideas. What do you think?