I have been wanting to try my hand at making wax seals for a while now after seeing them in so many gorgeous art journals & crafty projects. When VillabeauTIFFul started carrying wax seal supplies, I picked up a few items then went to look online for tutorials, tips, & project inspiration... all that was left to do was try it for myself! I thought I'd share the process of making my very first wax seal here for anyone else who has been wanting to give wax seal making a try.
Here's the list of supplies I used for this project:
First off, I gathered & prepped all my supplies. I removed the rubber tip from the Wooden Wax Stamp Handle so the Wax Seal Stamp could be screwed onto the handle. I decided to try out the Foliage stamp first!
Note per the wax seal stamp listings: Handles are interchangeable with these stamp heads- you do not need a different handle for each wax seal stamp.
Next I lit a tea candle & then placed the Wax Seal Warmer over the candle.
Note per the wax seal warmer listing: Please be very careful when making wax seals. The metal rose gold parts of the warmer and spoon get very hot - do not touch these areas.
Then I selected the color palette I wanted to use for my wax seal from the wax seal bead sets I had on hand. Most tutorials I found online recommended using 3-4 beads per wax seal. I decided to start with three beads, my thought process being that I didn't want to waste any unnecessary beads (in case you're following along step by step - I ended up using four & will explain why in just a bit!)
Once I selected the colors (a combo of metallic rose gold & cream/light yellow), I added the beads to theWax Spoon & placed the spoon onto the warmer. With the candle warming the beads, they began to melt pretty quickly.
Once the beads had mostly melted, I used a toothpick to stir them together so the colors would blend.
When the three beads were completely melted & stirred together I realized that it didn't look like there would be enough wax to correctly make the seal. There should be enough wax so that the entire stamp can fit inside the wax once it's poured into a circle. I added one more wax bead to the mix & waited for them to melt again.
Then I slowly poured the wax onto the Silicone Wax Stamp Mat in a circle shape. It didn't come out as a perfect circle, but I think with practice that may hopefully get easier!
If desired you can pour the wax directly onto an envelope/paper instead of on the silicone mat before applying the wax seal stamp.
Immediately after pouring the wax onto the mat, I placed my Wax Seal Stamp into the center & firmly pressed down to imprint the pattern. I held it there for about 10-15 seconds before releasing the handle to snap the photo below.
When I pulled the handle up, I was left with a super pretty wax seal! Again, it wasn't perfect but I think it came out really well for a first try. It definitely makes me excited to keep practicing & experimenting with new color combos & stamp patterns/shapes.
The silicone mat made it really easy to remove the finished wax seal. It popped right off! Using double sided adhesive (such as glue dots) I can now add my wax seal to envelopes, gift tags, journals... the sky's the limit!
VillabeauTIFFul also has a Pinterest board with project ideas for more inspiration on ways to use wax seals: Let's Create: Wax Seals.
Time to Clean!
To keep my wax seal products in the best shape possible, I wanted to be sure to clean them right away before storing them for later use. My wax spoon had some dried wax leftover & I had also managed to get some residual wax & black residue (from the bottom of the spoon) on the warmer & silicone mat as well.
I relit the tea candle & warmed the spoon again so the leftover wax would melt. Then I used a balled up paper towel to wipe out all the wax, being careful not to accidentally touch any of the hot areas with my hand.
Once the warmer had cooled back down, I used a combo of baking soda & Dawn dish soap to gently scrub off all the remaining black residue from that & from the silicone mat.
Thanks for checking out my first attempt at making a wax seal! How did your first attempt go?
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