On 28th February, Nicky from the Hidden Hive came to Oxley Park Community Centre to guide 12 local residents in making a beautiful teacup candle.
Nicky is the founder of The Hidden Hive, a garden studio in Bletchley, Milton Keynes, where she hosts unique workshops designed to modernise traditional handicrafts. Drawing on her extensive background in design, marketing, and arts education, she facilitates sessions in candle making, crochet, and macramé with a focus on well-being and social connection. Whether chatting over home-made cake or teaching a new skill, Nicky’s mission is to make hand-crafting relevant, cool, and fun for every visitor.
As each person arrived, they were given an apron and a name tag, and most importantly a hot drink to start the session! After introductions, everyone got to pick a unique second-hand teacup and teaspoon, often sourced from charity shops, and Nicky took everyone through the best waxes to use and how to calculate how much wax and fragrance they would need for their own cup.
Nicky talked about the different types of things they could use to colour their candles, and how the shade would be different depending on what was used. Attendees then got to smell four different fragrances and pick out which they liked the best, which proved quite difficult as they were all lovely and some people had to smell them a few times to decide.
There were also two different types of wicks to choose from and everyone got to pick which they would prefer: either a traditional cotton wick or a bamboo one that would crackle as it burnt. The wicks were attached to the bottom of the teacup ready for pouring the wax.
Once everyone had decided on the colour and smell of their candle, Nicky filled the pots with the right amount of wax from the heater. Participants then added their colour and fragrance, stirring gently to prevent air bubbles. The mixture was then poured into the cups—a task that had to be done quickly as the wax cooled rapidly in the beakers.
While everybody waited for the candles to cool ready for the next step, everyone was offered a fresh homemade scone and another hot drink while enjoying a good chat. The next stage was to decorate the candles with wax flowers and leaves.
Everyone was happy with their candle and enjoyed the session immensely, so thank you so much to Nicky from Hidden Hive for showing us how to create such wonderful, personalised treasures. It was a fantastic afternoon of creativity and community spirit, and we look forward to welcoming her back to Oxley Park again soon.
To stay up to date with all our upcoming workshops and community events, please visit our website at www.shenleychurchend-pc.gov.uk
To see what else Nicky does visit her at:
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