Do It Gorgeously: How to Make Less Toxic, Less Expensive, and More Beautiful Products (38 page)

HOW TO

1.
Decide on the size board you want and take the measurements to your home improvement store. Alternatively, you may have an old piece of wood that you want to use.

2.
You may want to play around a bit, deciding on the look you want in terms of how you arrange your corks. You can lay them on their long side, vertically, horizontally, or in a brick-laying pattern.

3.
Apply glue to the back of each cork, making sure the writing is on the front, and stick firmly to the board.

Beautiful Beeswax Candles

Candles can be horribly toxic. Regular paraffin wax candles are made from the sludge waste product of the petroleum industry, which is then bleached and textured with acrolyn, a known carcinogen. When a paraffin wax candle is burned, it releases benzene and toluene (both carcinogens).

You’ve probably heard a lot of good press about soy candles. Soy is a much healthier alternative and it burns at a much lower temperature, so it doesn’t produce soot or burn marks. Most of the soy used in candles is genetically modified (GM), if that bothers you. I like to avoid GM crops on principle.

My absolute favorite wax is natural beeswax. It looks stunning, gives off a honey-like scent, and can also help relieve symptoms of allergies such as hay fever and asthma.

Rolled beeswax candles are very quick and easy to make. You won’t need to fiddle around with melting and pouring, and you’ll have beautiful candles in minutes—for a fraction of what you’d pay in a high-end store.

I love to use candles even on an informal dinner table. They can make an everyday supper seem cozy and special, and are essential in creating a lovely, warm ambiance at a dinner party. The following project will create candles that you would use in place of regular taper candles.

HOW TO

1.
Place one sheet of the beeswax on the cutting board.

2.
Cut the sheet in half, so that the length of each candle will be 4 inches. Put aside half the sheet.

3.
Cut a length of the candlewick to be 2 inches longer than your candle—that is, 6 inches.

4.
Place the wick along the length of the sheet, about 2 inches away from the edge.

5.
Warm the entire sheet with your hair dryer, until you can feel it softening.

6.
Beginning with the edge closest to you, roll the wax very tightly over the wick. Continue to roll. It’s similar to rolling up a yoga mat or making sushi—you have to constantly make sure that the bottom of the candle is straight. If you make a mistake, you can always warm the wax a little more and redo a few inches.

7.
Once you have rolled about half the sheet, check for size by putting the candle in a candlestick. When it fits, cut off the remaining wax in a straight line.

Tip:
To keep your candle pliable and workable throughout the process, you can keep heating it with your hair dryer.

TABLECLOTHS AND NAPKINS

How often have you wished you had the perfect tablecloth to go with the seasonal table setting you had in mind? Purchasing fine-looking tablecloths with matching napkins can be extremely pricey—but not if you do it gorgeously! Moreover, making your own will guarantee you the specific dimensions of your table.

I committed a few years back to ditching the paper and plastic when it comes to tablecloths, and especially napkins. I’ve made a bunch of cute cloth napkins for everyday use. Every couple of days I toss them in the laundry pile, and we don’t waste any paper. It also feels a little more elegant than dabbing at your mouth with a paper towel.

Everyday Napkins

You should be able to find some really fun fabric at your local big box chain or fabric store. Since you need only a little fabric, you can afford to splash out a bit. Ask your fabric store if they carry any organic cotton. A good size for everyday napkins is a 14x14-inch square.