Candle Making at Schumacher Farm

Join Friends of Schumacher Farm Park and art educator/history enthusiast Kristin Isaacs for an afternoon of old-fashioned candle-dipping. Participants will learn how to prep their wicks and dip them into molten wax to create old-fashioned taper candles. Each chandler (the term for candle maker!) will take home their own pair of hand-dipped candles. Wintertime is ideal for making candles because the cold air helps the wax to solidify between dips and allows multiple layers to be built up. This would have been the children’s job in the olden days. That being said, this is an outdoor program that will be held at our fire pit in the historic farmyard. So dress accordingly!

Traditionally, candles would have been made from tallow (rendered animal fat) or bayberry (which was a laborious process as well). Later, beeswax, then paraffin, and now today, soy wax is used. We will be using a mixture of soy and beeswax to create our candles. The wax will be melted in a tall can on an outdoor fire, but no one will be dipping their candles directly at the fire. This is truly an all-ages event, however please make sure the youngest participants are closely supervised due to the nature of the activity.

Location: Historic Farmyard at Schumacher park - dress warmly!

Cost: $12 per person

RSVP: Space is limited, registration is required.

Note on Timing: We will have the fire going and wax melted from 1 - 4, and participants are free to come at any time in this window to learn about the process and create their candles. The whole process takes about 20-30 minutes, and participants may stay as long as desired to continue observing and explore the park.  

Please note, this workshop is weather dependent. It may need to be rescheduled on short notice depending on the weather. If this occurs, we will contact you to discuss next steps.

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