I had a brainstorm in the last few days since my experiments with fire starters - maybe I could use handmade paper for them. I had to find my box of handmade paper as it has been a while since I was in there. I made up two of each - two without wax and two with beeswax. I decided to use beeswax on them because I just recently acquired some and I wanted to preserve the beauty of the paper.
These are the ones I made above. The ones without wax worked reasonably but those with wax were much better. I used my griddle covered with foil in the same way as I did for when I used crayons. I laid my handmade paper sheet (8.5"x 5.5") over the foil and rubbed the beeswax sticks over it. Beeswax required a bit more heat (250F) and also the handmade paper is thicker than the other papers I used so it takes a bit longer for the heat to transfer through. I avoided the edges and that proved problematic when I tried to light them as the sewn ends were less waxed than the rest.
I had to go back and add wax to the edges. For those already made up I simply dipped the ends in melted beeswax. For those not yet made up I found that sewing through paper coated with beeswax is problematic as the wax is a little sticky. So for my next ones I will put regular wax on the edges and the beeswax in the center. It will give a nice highlight to the paper to have a coloured edge. I will investigate the availability of parraffin - used for sealing canning jars - at the grocery store to see if there is any available at this time of year. It would provide a clear quick melting options for handmade paper. I do like the beeswax on the handmade paper so I would consider just putting the parraffin on the edges. Therese
