Friday, August 28, 2009

Narurally Colored Modeling Beeswax

I really like the modeling beeswax that is sold by Waldorf art supply sources. It smells wonderful ( I can't stand the smell of Play-Do), is easy to clean up, and can be used over and over. The only drawback is the price, so last night I made my own. So far, I only have 3 colors, but it's a good size supply and it only cost about $7 to make.


Modeling Beeswax Recipe

4 ounces of beeswax
1 teaspoon Lanolin
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

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Melt the wax, lanolin, and oil in a double boiler. A clean soup can, sitting in a small pan of water, works well for this and is just the right size.
Use a wooden skewer or popsicle stick to stir the mixture while it melts. For a natural beeswax color, nothing more needs to be added. Just continue stirring while pouring the mixture into a foil lined cake pan or pie plate ( the foil is optional, but it makes clean-up easier).

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Let the wax cool for about a half hour, cut into wedges, and remove from pan.

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For red wax, place 2 teaspoons of alkanet root in a small piece of muslin or cheese cloth and tie the bundle closed with a long string. Holding onto the string, lower the cloth bundle down into the hot wax mixture right after it is all melted.

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Leave the wax mixture on the heat for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

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Carefully remove the cloth bundle before pouring. I found it easiest to use a pot holder and carry the hot soup can over to the trash can to remove the alkanet bundle, because it was dripping hot red wax.

For orange wax, I remelted half of the batch of natural color and half of the batch of red and added a little cloth bundle with a 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric, following the same directions as for the alkanet root.

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These are all good colors to go with the upcoming Fall season.

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Modeling Beeswax is not only a good play-do substitute, it is also good for decorating candles. The wax will stick to other wax just by pressing.

9 comments:

Sandra said...

I never thought using beeswax as modeling clay. I am thinking of going to our Whole Foods store this week get the supplies to make our own.

I know working with clay and playdough is very theraputic for my older son. Thank you for sharing.

Tammy said...

These are just lovely colors. And anything homemade is always better. :)

dawn klinge said...

Wow! Thank you! We love modeling beeswax at my house, but don't like the price either...thanks for the recipe.

Anonymous said...

Fabulous! Thank you so much. My kids and I were just playing with some modeling clay I bought a while back. It was the first time and we got multi-colored stuff all over the place! It took the soap my husband uses to remove grease and oils off his hands to get the stuff off and a ton of elbow grease to get it off the table.

I was researching prices for beeswax modeling clay and found your page. I'm so excited and I know the rest of the family will be too. Thank you so much for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Wow, thanks for sharing this! I only had to type this in once to google and you came up first!
Now to find a beeswax crayon recipe that doesn't have the colors bleed out! LOL

Speak Any Language said...

Thanks for the tip to use beeswax, I did a search and found that compared to paraffin wax, its recyclable, so I could keep fixing and adjusting my recipe. The result was this instructable.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Oil-based-Modelling-Clay/

HarmonyParent said...

I just found this blog and blog post and I'm excited to try this as I have all the ingredients already. I am wondering how it holds up after time? Does it work well? Does it stay soft and pliable? Does the color hold, or come off on the user's hands?

Gianna said...

6Dear Crescent Moon, thank you very much for your orientation. I did beeswax for modelling, but It seems not right, comared to Stocmacher. What can I add to make my modelling beeswax more "elastic", It is sticky and does not strech.
(sorry my english I m spanish speaker)

Crescent Moon said...

Maybe a little more of the lanolin, but I'm not sure. Ours worked fine when we warmed it up with our hands.

Crafty Crow