Candle dipping (again)

Today our village hosted it annual candle dipping. The girls were keen to go, but I will be honest and say I was worried they might be disappointed. Our village is fairly small and quite rural, and I knew their expectations were high after our candle dipping in Zurich a couple of weeks ago.

I warned them it would probably only be beeswax (not coloured wax) and that it might not be as kid friendly as last time, but they insisted they really wanted to go. Not to mention that DH has never been candle dipping, and they wanted to show Daddy how great it was.

So I have to say I was amazed. It was small, but super well organised and we were greeted at the door and given a very friendly talk about how to dip candles. There were lots of helpers dotted about, who were great with the kids, there was coloured wax at kid height, and in between dipping, the candles were dunked in huge water barrels to cool them, and then wiped dry with a cloth (provided). So the girls just disappeared and got on with it, and DH started his first ever candle but unfortunately looked bored within minutes. In all honesty it is a kind of slow process at the start.

I didn't take many photos becasue I was busy making my own candle, but the next time I looked up the girls were having a ball and chatting to their school friends whilst dipping candles together, and DH had suddenly become very absorbed. It might start slowly, but once you get going it really is strangely addictive.
So it was a fantastic afternoon, and once the candles were finished you could take them to a table where expert candle type people would trim the bottom off, and do a variety of fancy designs if you wished. They were incredible, and were doing some very beautiful stuff.

Sofie was very proud of her candle.

She took it to the carving table, and asked for it to be made into a Christmas tree.

It then had white wax added to look like snow.

We ended up with (from left to right in the photo below);
-DH's white candle which has red inside. He didn't like the idea of any cutting up his precious creation, although the candle cutting guy said it probably wasn't solid enough to cut anyway.

-Emily's multi colour candle, with wax circles on the front, and white wax and sprinkles over. I have no idea what the theme was with Emily - she just wanted a bit of everything.

-Sofie's pink Christmas tree. She could not be more thrilled with it and it is a Christmas present for a very special person.
-My small rainbow candle.

It was a wonderful, fun way to spend a couple of hours, not to mention super cheap (small rural village means small rural prices), and we will be returning to our local candle dipping next year.

And once we got home the girls wrote their Christmas lists.

Sofie did hers all on her own and would like;
- Puppe Annie (a doll)
- Box of handkerchiefs*
- Franki with a wardrobe**

Emily wrote part of hers (the first time she has ever written her own Christmas list), and DH helped her with the rest. She would like;
- Box of handkerchiefs
- Spectra Wundergeist**
- Pez (the sweets in the plastic dispenser)
If it isn't totally clear (and I am sure it isn't) the line along the top says, 'please may I have'.
Emily writes a lot of her words backwards - correct, just backwards.

Tomorrow we are off to see Father Christmas and deliver their requests in person.

And a small explanation of two of the girls present request.

* Handkerchiefs. Sofie asked recently about handkerchiefs, and I asked where she heard about them. She casually replied that everyone has them, and they use them all the time. On questioning her further I realised she was talking about in books she has read. Apparently they feature in Milly Molly Mandy, The Famous Five, and Swallows and Amazons, to name but a few. This is what you get when your child reads a lot of pre 1970's literature!

**Franki and Spectra are dolls, and this explanation is for you Kim (who said I would never Blog about them becasue they are so hideous!!). They are like Barbies, but are actually part of a set called Monster High. They are beyond awful, and the girls love them - sigh. And they do play with the ones they have a lot, and they have sparked an interest in Ancient Egypt, Greek Mythology and monsters, so they may have some merit. But overall I am not a fan, although I also accept that sometimes if it isn't harmful then I need to step back and let the girls be girls.
I don't have to like it though.....