Have you tried carving a candle into a tiki?

Aloha, as an offshoot of a thread from last year where we discussed group tiki art projects, I have now completed a second tiki candle carving and thought I would see if anyone else has done these and has other tips or ideas to share. Feel free to add your advice and/or photos.

What I have done is to start with a large candle which can be found fairly easily from a number of sources. They can be pricey at retail but thrifts are more reasonable. My preferred way to get them though is to watch out at yard sales where you can often get them for next to nothing. You need to look them over a bit because with some candles, the wax is not colored all the way through but has a thin color coating over a white interior. This may not make a difference to you but personally I prefer a solid color.

In the photos below I have used a terra cotta candle which was 6" tall and 3" across.
The other is an olive green which is 9" tall and 2 3/4" across. My designs are nothing original, just a conglomeration of different
other tiki styles I have seen. I use a set of X-acto knives to do the carving. Surprisingly it doesn't take long to create a tiki this way. I just sort of whittled on the green one during a couple of football games this past weekend. When I am done with the carving I just use a small paintbrush to flake away the crumbs and then I plug in a hand held hairdryer and let it bathe the wax body of the completed carving with hot air so that the remaining crumbs melt leaving a smooth surface.
If you are not into carving wooden tiki items with chisels, this may be something you can do instead. Or, for the carvers who have to wait for nicer weather to carve outside, you can use candles as mini prototypes of larger tikis you want to create in wood later. This may help you to avoid making mistakes or even ruining a nice log which you have planned to use for a specific tiki project. Why not give this a try and report back with your results.
Have fun, 8FT

Thought a shell pendant would enhace this one.

Save the Tikis!

[ Edited by: 8ft tiki on 2004-11-29 17:17 ]

[ Edited by: 8ft tiki on 2004-11-29 17:20 ]

[ Edited by: 8ft tiki on 2004-11-29 17:22 ]

What a great idea. Now I have vanilla scented wax all over my desk and keyboard and my wife is missing a candle from her bathroom. Thanks for the insperation .
Those candles you carved look great.

I did a modified version of candle carving a few years ago for christmas presents.

With a sharp instrument (screw driver? can't remember) I carved a tiki design into a light-colored candle. Then, I took one of those dark-colored candle in a tub (like the kind Yankee puts out), which has a very soft spreadable wax, and rubbed the soft wax into the carved design. It was a pretty cool effect, and could be completed in just a few minutes.

I have a tiny bit of experience with this.
I used a dollar store candle for the wax sculpt in making my mug mold. First thing I did was remove the wick, so I can't really say I intended it as a candle.

In addition to the hot hairdryer trick mentioned above...I was told that rubbing the candle with an old pair of pantyhose (sounds kinky donnit?) helps to smooth out the final sculpt. And It does...just don't let people see you do this.

By the way 8ft...I like your sculpts. I really like the "mood wax" one. How'd you get it to change colours?

Well slacks it's just that I adjusted the color on them in adobe and one came out greener that the other. Guess I should have worked on them a bit longer. The true color is somewhere in between the two. It is the same candle in both photos believe it or not.
I'm the moody one! :) :( :) :(