[TRACE] Today we're going to be making our own candles with dried flowers just picked right outside the door.

[THEME MUSIC] I'm Trace Barnett, and welcome to Garden Party.

Today we have a special guest.

This is my good friend, Jennifer Wallace Fields, host of Alabama Public Television's arts series, Monograph.

Let's get started.

[JENNIFER] Let's do it!

[TRACE] So first things first, when you are getting ready to press flowers, which I'm sure you've done before.

[JENNIFER] All the time.

[TRACE] Some things to consider would be the plants themselves.

And right now, one of my absolute favorites are like violas and pansies.

But I really love violas because of the size.

And I also love ferns, which are really great too.

And just when they're starting to unfurl- So you have just that little bit of, like, frond on the end.

Some other really good ones are like nandina, dead-nettle's really good because I love the texture.

[JENNIFER] Is that shamrock?

[TRACE] Yeah, I love the shamrocks too.

And you know, they come in purple and green, so the purple ones are really cool too.

Also, just simple begonia.

So I mean, you can technically use weeds and flowers when you're pressing flowers.

[JENNIFER] I love it.

[TRACE] So let's get started.

If you would, pull me off some of these violas.

And when you pull them off, if you're pulling them directly off the stem, pull them off, like right there.

[JENNIFER] Ok. [TRACE] And if you want a little bit of stem on there, you can totally leave that.

And we'll just arrange it as we fold them.

[JENNIFER] Perfect.

[TRACE] You can use any kind of papers.

You can use like a parchment paper or wax paper.

I don't even own an air fryer.

But I do have these air fryer papers because they're perfect, because they are that exact size.

Just to make almost like a pressed flower pocket.

[JENNIFER] Yeah, that's a great use for those.

[TRACE] Say that three times fast.

[JENNIFER LAUGHS] [TRACE] And you don't need any kind of special equipment or anything to press flowers.

You just need like a large book, stack of magazines, anything that's going to really press down and put some weight onto our flowers or foliage.

So these are some that I've already been drying here.

And the drying time typically is like 2 to 3 weeks.

[JENNIFER] Oh wow.

[TRACE] And as you can see, they still retain a lot of that really good color.

[JENNIFER] Yeah, they really do.

Look at the reds and the purples.

[TRACE] And I love like the color combinations too that are variegated.

And I love like- that's just- I can't even remember the name of that weed.

I know that Cecil really loves to eat that.

[JENNIFER LAUGHS] [TRACE] But I love the texture of that too.

So let's take our paper here and let's- I usually take mine and fold it directly in half there.

That way I kind of have a gauge on, you know, where the paper itself is going to land.

And then the fun part, let's just start arranging.

[JENNIFER] Alright, let's do it.

[TRACE] Almost like a collage.

[JENNIFER] Ok.

I'm going to take a fern.

[TRACE] Ferns are just like the quintessential plant in the garden.

They have so many uses, from pressed foliage to everything.

[JENNIFER] Should I squish this down to make it... [TRACE] Yeah, squish it down just a tad.

Just like that.

I love that little bit of stem that you left there, too.

[JENNIFER] Thank you.

[TRACE] It's really perfect.

[JENNIFER] It's my artistic touch.

[TRACE WHISPERING] You got the good artistic touch.

[TRACE] So you should host an art show.

[JENNIFER LAUGHS] [JENNIFER] I've been thinking about it!

[TRACE] So if you have a little bit of a petal that's giving you a little bit of trouble, just use a pair of tweezers and just kind of, you know, after you've had it pressed and just kind of level that out.

So that's always a good thing if you have some stubborn flowers.

[JENNIFER] Pro tip.

[TRACE] Love that little bit of dead- nettle there too, with those little bit of purple flowers coming out.

And then of course a little bit of nandina.

You know, some other stuff to consider foliage wise would just be rose foliage.

Rose petals are perfect.

And there we go.

That almost looks like a work of art already.

Let's put a couple more violas in there too.

[JENNIFER] Would you ever do any, like, herbs?

[TRACE] Totally.

I love the herbs.

Now when you are going to dry herbs though, stick with herbs that are not like completely full of water, like basil; dill's a perfect option; rosemary's a great option.

[JENNIFER] Oh yeah.

[TRACE] And now let's just fold our little package over here.

And just try and keep it kind of in place.

But I really do like it sometimes when they pile on each other.

[JENNIFER] Haphazard beauty.

[TRACE] It is.

Alright, let's shut our book here.

And summon all your bicep strength.

You need something heavy to go directly on top of the book.

[TRACE] So I just brought my handy-dandy dictionary.

[JENNIFER] Ok.

Here we go.

[TRACE] It's amazing I own one.

I don't sound like it.

[BOTH LAUGH] [TRACE] I should probably read it instead of using it to press flowers.

So once you've got your heavy object on top of your book, I would leave these here.

I'd usually check them about two weeks later.

[JENNIFER] Ok. [TRACE] And they can stay in there for a matter of months if you want them to.

[JENNIFER] Sometimes I put them in books, and then I totally forget about it.

And it's a nice little surprise.

[TRACE] It's like a little bit like Christmas Day when you open it up.

"Look at these pressed flowers."

I found some in, like, my grandparents books too.

So that's nostalgia.

[JENNIFER] Sweet.

Maybe one day when we're on an alien ship, someone will find ours.

[JENNIFER LAUGHS] [TRACE] And a great way to store these too...

So, say that you bring your pressed flowers out.

One of the great ways to store these would be, especially if you have a large number of them...

It's kind of addicting once you start pressing flowers.

I would take like a shallow Rubbermaid container with a lid and just use the silica gel.

[JENNIFER] Ok. [TRACE] Say that twice, too.

So silica gel, and that keeps everything flat and moisture free.

Because moisture is the enemy of pressed flowers.

[JENNIFER] And curly hair.

[TRACE] And curly hair.

[JENNIFER LAUGHS] [TRACE] Good for us though.

Let's move on to our candles.

[JENNIFER] Ok!

[CHICKENS SQUAWK] [TRACE] So pressed flowers are absolutely perfect in candles as well.

But I also love to use dried flowers, which is one of the easiest ways to really preserve flowers that are in your garden.

Any kind of flower or herb.

And what you do is you just kind of make them into a bundle and you just tie that with a bit of jute and put that somewhere, you know, I hang them in my dining room somewhere out of the full sun or out of a place that has a ton of wind and movement.

[JENNIFER] Mmhm.

[TRACE] And just kind of shut the lights down, let them hang out there, and you'll have dried flowers.

And one thing, especially with the prices of eggs these days it's like, why not use the entirety of the egg?

[JENNIFER] Don't want to waste it.

[TRACE] So I've reserved a dozen egg shells here, and they are the perfect little tea light vessels.

[JENNIFER] Those are beautiful.

[TRACE] And look how perfect- they're like just a little bowl there.

And I saved the carton, too, because that's the perfect way to pour it.

And then also, you can leave them in there too.

I'm using an organic soy based quick-melting candle wax here.

Now you can melt this wax in the microwave.

And what I would do is almost just like melting chocolate in 30-second intervals.

But my favorite method is- you know, I love these enamel-ware pitchers.

[JENNIFER] It's much more aesthetic than the microwave.

[TRACE] Much more aesthetic.

You know, and plus it gives us that pourable spout.

So great option if you've got something that can go directly on the stove.

I'm going to heat this over an eye.

If it's pourable and everything is melted in there, then it's perfectly ready to go.

Just don't leave it on there too long and let it burn.

[JENNIFER] Ok. [TRACE] I'm removing this from the heat and be careful.

Now's the time that you would add any kind of essential oil or scent that you want.

I'm forgoing that today with my little egg tea lights, just simply because I'm going to be using them on a table and there's not that much wax in there.

[JENNIFER] Ok. [TRACE] If you would grab some of these little beeswax wicks here, which I love, and we are going to stick those just directly down into our egg shells there.

Now, you can always tack this down with just a little bit of hot glue.

But the hot glue may turn loose and you have a lot of manipulation time with the wax itself.

[JENNIFER] Perfect.

[TRACE] Some of these look a little wonky, but they'll straighten up later.

[JENNIFER] Well, that's part of the beauty of handmade.

That's a very specialized instrument.

[JENNIFER LAUGHS] [TRACE] This very specialized instrument here is a chopstick.

And it's perfect when you're melting your wax to kind of break them apart.

So I'm going to pour this into the egg shell here.

So reserve shells that have a lot more room for wax versus those that may have just be like the top end.

[JENNIFER] Mmhm.

If you really wanted to plan when you're cracking the eggs... [BOTH LAUGH] [TRACE] ...aesthetically crack them.

All right.

So fill that up there.

And depending on how much wax you put into your candles, it's going to also depend on how long it takes them to dry.

So dry time for these will probably be half hour to 45 minutes.

So it's almost like working with resin.

So you have quite a bit of time to kind of play around.

Now I know it's tempting right at the moment for us to just dive in and start sprinkling our dried flowers in... [JENNIFER] It is.

[TRACE] But I would wait about ten minutes before we do that, just until there's a skin that kind of forms on top of the candle there.

That way it don't all sink down into the bottom.

[JENNIFER] That makes sense.

[TICKING] [TRACE] Alright, so our candles are sufficiently sufficient, ready to go.

And let's start making them pretty.

So I have some variety of dried flower petals here for us that I've just broke apart.

So we have some cornflower, rose petals, camomile.

Any dried petals are perfect for this.

[TRACE] I'm going to smell.

[JENNIFER] Mm good.

They smell really good.

[TRACE] Let me smell yours.

Yours smells better than mine.

[JENNIFER] Of course!

[TRACE LAUGHS] [JENNIFER] That's stinky.

[JENNIFER LAUGHS] [TRACE] So just break those up.

I break those just a little bit apart at first.

And I do like a little bit of that rose petal too directly on there.

I like a color combination.

[Jennifer] Yeah I do too.

And it adds a little more interest.

[TRACE] And you know, if you're doing this for a special event- so for a dinner that has a theme or a certain time of year, it's a great way to like really make it personalized.

Plus you can save some money too.

That looks perfect.

So you're going to want to let these hang out.

Let them sufficiently dry.

If you're going to do this for an event or a certain table, I would do this the day before just to make sure they're all ready to go.

Here you go.

[JENNIFER] Thank you!

[TRACE] If you will cut these wicks off for me.

So if you don't want to use the egg carton method here, you can simply just take those- This is just a little craft bird's nest.

[JENNIFER GASPS] [TRACE] You can use bird's nest from just outside your house.

I'm a big bird nest person.

I love like the natural feel of them.

[JENNIFER] That is so cute!

[TRACE] Just nestle that- we love cute.

[JENNIFER] We love cute!

[TRACE] We need cute.

So just nestle that on your table.

And I've just taken a little bit of moss here and there and just add you a little bit of moss for some- a little bit of feel there.

[JENNIFER] That's amazing.

[TRACE] You can always stick a little fern frond in there if you really wanted to go crazy.

And again, same thing with our little cartoon here, as we trim our wicks.

Just add in little mosses, just kind of festive it up a little bit, make it cute.

[SOFT MUSIC] So now let's utilize those pressed flowers just using a store-bought tapered candle.

As you know, tapered candles are hard to make because you have to dip and dip.

And you dip, we dip.

[BOTH LAUGH] [JENNIFER] I actually like to buy mine at the thrift store.

[TRACE] Thrift store's a good idea.

You just got to find them in the right spot.

[JENNIFER] That's right.

[TRACE] Usually over in the garden section.

So grab a pair of tweezers over there.

I tried to hide yours so yours won't be better than mine.

So find some foliage here that just screams like it needs to be on the candle.

I'm going to go for something that has some really good texture and that I can kind of almost like wrap here.

So I'm going to take my brush, dip it into the wax that we already had melted.

And then I'm just going to brush on our foliage here.

Look Jennifer's already done with hers, and I'm the host over here.

[JENNIFER LAUGHS] [JENNIFER] No no no no no no no, don't look too closely.

[TRACE] That's the fun part, though, is the experimentation.

[JENNIFER] It is.

[TRACE] It's going to melt down anyway.

So I'm going to use a tealight here.

And you just kind of dab that.

I'm going to go along the edges here just to kind of smooth it and hold this in place.

And again, you can simply take your fingers if it's something like a fern frond that you want to wrap around the candle, you can easily just wrap that and hold it in place with just a tiny bit of wax.

Now we're getting somewhere.

[JENNIFER LAUGHS] [TRACE] I finally got one to stick!

[JENNIFER] That looks great!

[TRACE] Maybe the tea candle is the best way to go.

I sabotaged yours.

[JENNIFER LAUGHS] that's not on purpose.

[JENNIFER] Was that on purpose?

[BOTH LAUGH] [TRACE] All right, let's light our little candles here.

[JENNIFER] Let's do it.

[TRACE] You know what I love about this craft?

Whoa!

Burnin'!

Other than the cost of our wax, a little bit of time and some wicks, it's all essentially free.

[JENNIFER] That's true.

[TRACE] So for 20 bucks, you can have unlimited candles that are personalized to fit your space, your event, whatever you're doing.

[JENNIFER] And they're gorgeous.

[TRACE] Not as gorgeous as us, but- [JENNIFER] Well.

[BOTH LAUGH] [THEME MUSIC] [JENNIFER] Do you want to learn how to press your own flowers?

I do.

[TRACE] So do I!

[BOTH LAUGH] [BOTH LAUGH] [TRACE] How do they look so good 'til we're on camera!?

[BOTH LAUGH] It's rigged, people.

Look, they're just leaving me in the lurch.

[BOTH LAUGH] [JENNIFER] I got you.

[JENNIFER LAUGHS] [TRACE] I'm glad someone's on my side.

[JENNIFER LAUGHS] [TRACE] I really hold our viewers in high esteem.

[JENNIFER LAUGHS] [TRACE] I really went big or gone home on that one.

[JENNIFER LAUGHS] [TRACE] It's really awful!

It looks so ugly!

[BOTH LAUGH] [TRACE] Cut!

Blooper!

So you can also take your hand here and kind of smooth...

I quit!

[TRACE LAUGHS]