Waldorf Style Candle Holder Making

nature table - celebration rings - daffodils - candle holder - craft is therapy - making - creating - crafting - kids crafts - salt dough

Filling Your Cup

I’ve always found sanctuary in being creative. It gives me real pleasure and helps to calm my often busy busy mind. Since our daughter arrived I haven’t had the same opportunities to create that I once used to. As mothers we often look in the mirror and don’t recognise the person that we once were; motherhood changes us so profoundly.

What we have to safeguard is that we don’t lose ourselves in the process. It’s incredibly important to show our children what fills our cup, what brings us joy, so they too in turn can learn how to fill their own cups. Some activities can fill all our cups and this candle holder activity is one of them.

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This year I want to make time to pursue the past-times that I enjoy. Luckily for me, Floss, our daughter, really loves to create too. It’s a place of overlap, where we can both feel fulfilled together, sharing the same space. Sometimes I choose the activity we will do, but more often than not it comes from a material Floss wants to use or an idea she wants to create. In this blog post I’m sharing one such time where Floss wanted to make a daffodil with salt dough.

Passing Down Skills

So, as I’ve said, this year when she creates – I create. She loves to watch me as I make, fascinated by the tools I use, how I use them and what they form. Equally, it entrances me to observe her use the materials in her own way. Sometimes adopting a method that she has seen me do, but also using tools and media in her own unique ways. My mom and nans were always crafting.

Lots of the skills I enjoy now were passed on to me when I was a small child. I hope to do the same for Floss for as long as she wants to. I love the resurgence in handcrafts and that these beautiful techniques and trades are being passed on to the next generations.

A considerable amount of what I used to make would be gifts for family and friends. Now I find pleasure in making items for our home as well as to give away. This salt dough daffodil was a simple make that came to me while watching Floss make her flowers. I’d just ordered these beautiful candles and wanted to make a candle holder for them.

Recently, as the days have been getting a little longer, we’ve been sharing our evening meal by candle light. It’s something that really sets the tone for our slow, relaxing evenings before bed. I’d looked at some of the beautiful celebration rings and nature table items available to buy and decided I wanted to get crafting our own pieces to celebrate our space.

Creating a Candle Holder

The petals and stand are made from salt dough (Tiny Land – Gluten Free). I gently pushed the brass candle stand into the dough so that it would sit comfortably once hardened. I put the creation in the oven on around 120*C for about 30 mins.

It’s still a little soft when it first comes out – you could bake it for longer, but I prefer to let it dry naturally for a day or so to keep the colours vibrant and avoid any splitting. We love it, it’s not perfect, it was created while my little one was making daffodils and then chicks, but I got to create. I made something for our home and it definitely filled my cup!

Candle making might be my next project. I need to have a think about how I can make this something we could both do.

Thank you to Richa who suggested this activity would be ideal to celebrate Dhanteras. To find out five more ideas for Dhanteras head to Richa’s website here.

If your little one is enjoying the UK early signs of Spring flowers you might like the free download for three part Montessori cards for daffodil, snowdrop, dandelion and daisy below. Just print two copies and detach the words from the second copy.

You might like to check out our Sunflower projects for other ideas to get creative this Spring with your little ones.

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