Looking for a pretty and unusual holiday ornament or gift? Look no further than a DIY beeswax ornament. You can hang them on a tree or in a window for lovely effect. They smell really nice, too! These DIY beeswax ornaments also make wonderful gifts year round, especially for crafters, tailors, and seamstresses who can use the beeswax in a variety of ways. For example, I almost always wax my thread when I sew or embroider something — not only does this result in fewer knots and tangles, but it strengthens the thread as well.
DIY Beeswax Ornament Materials
- Beeswax (yellow or white)
- Silicone mold (candy molds work in a pinch, just not quite as well — using mold release spray helps though)
- Ribbon (1/8 inch wide)
- Double boiler (see my tutorial on how to make a double boiler from things you likely have already)
- Potholders (to protect your hands)
You can order beeswax online, or you can find blocks of regular beeswax at places like Michaels or Hobby Lobby. The white beeswax I found in the personal care section of Whole Foods (of all places). Flatter molds look a little nicer (as they show the light through the wax more) and use less wax in general.
Silicone molds are plentiful around the holidays. And you can find more specific molds on places like eBay (that’s where I found my winged heart mold many years ago) or Etsy. They are often sold to make soaps.
You’ll find more options among the candy molds. Like this 12 Days of Christmas mold with 12 individual ornament molds, complete with a ring for hanging — I’m trying this one next. If you use the plastic molds, get a can of mold release spray for easier extraction of your beeswax.
DIY Beeswax Ornament Step-by-Step Tutorial
Step 1: Put your wax in your double boiler to melt it.
Step 2: While your wax is melting, prepare your mold and ribbon. Put your mold in a pan in the event you have any wax run over. Then cut off a length of ribbon about 12″ long, knot the end, trim off the excess ribbon beneath the knot. Set the ribbon aside for now.
Step 3: Slowly pour your melted wax into the mold. Depending on your mold, you may need only to fill it up partway, or you may need to go all the way to the top for the full effect. If you need to fill it up all the way, avoid going over the edges.
Step 4: Place your prepared ribbon into the wax. Your goal is to get the knot covered by the wax, but not go all the way to the base of the mold to avoid having it show on the other side.
Step 5: If your ribbon doesn’t want to stay in place, set something near it that’s a little taller to keep it in place for you. (I used our giant 20-sided die.)
Step 6: Wait for it to cool and solidify before removing your beeswax ornament from the mold. Wax gets lighter and opaquer as it cools, so you can tell when it is solidified. You can tell when the wax is ready by how it pulls away from the mold. Gently pull the wax out of the mold, but do not pull on the ribbon yet (it needs more time to set in there).
Voila! A pretty DIY beeswax ornament for decorative or practical purposes.
DIY Beeswax Ornament Tips
There are many silicone molds you can use for your DIY beeswax ornaments — here is a pretty ornament one I found around the holidays:
Plastic candy molds are also okay, but it will be a little harder to get them out of the mold — definitely doable though. Here’s the liquified wax in my snowflake candy mold:
Remember you can use both regular (yellow) and white beeswax. Here’s how they compare:
Beeswax has a high melting point of 144°F to 147°F, so you can keep it with you without fear of it melting. If you live somewhere that gets hotter than 144°F, my condolences!
Did you know it takes 10 pounds of honey to make a pound of beeswax? Wow.
Uses for Beeswax
There are so many uses for beeswax beyond just a pretty, fragrant, decorative item. Here are the top uses for beeswax:
- Candles – You can make wonderful, clean-burning pure beeswax candles that clean your air!
- Soap – Beeswax can be used along with oils, honey, and lye to make a lovely smelling bar of soap. (See Beeswax Soap Recipe)
- Lip balm – Make your own DIY Burt’s Bees style lip balm with beeswax!
- Sewing – run your thread through the beeswax several times to strengthen it and minimize knotting.
- Basketweaving – used for pine-needle baskets
- Woodworking – a traditional finish for wood when mixed with mineral oil
- Archery – used to wax and protect the bowstring
- Sealing wax – mixed with shellac and oil, it because a flexible wax for sealing documents
- Bronze preservation – mixed with turpentine, it keeps bronze in good condition and untarnished
- Blacksmithing – used to finish ironwork, giving a nice sheen and preventing rust
That’s not all — you can also use it to make crayons, wood filler, jar seals, etc.
If you like my tutorials, please follow me on Pinterest and pin this tutorial for later:
What a cute idea. I have never heard of beeswax ornaments before, but I love how yours came out.
Thank you, Robin! They are rather unusual, but really pretty.
Wow – these are really pretty and so unique! I dont even think I’ve seen much beeswax for anything, let alone ornaments. Probably wont attempt this (too complex for me) DIY, but yours are so very lovely!
Thanks, Karen! Beeswax is the bomb.
These are so pretty and I love how easy they are to make! Definitely a fun Christmas craft project I can do with my family this year!
My grandfather had bees for YEARS. We used to dip our fingers in the warm wax ( I now know it was actually good for our hands). I never would have thought to make ornaments out of it. I bet they smell amazing.
I used to be so afraid of bees — now I am able to co-exist without running in terror at least. 🙂
10 pounds of honey to make 1 pound of beeswax that’s crazy! I love your ornaments!
Thank you, Angela!
These ornaments are so cute! I never thought about making my own Christmas decorations before
These look so fun to make! We have done salt dough ornaments but never wax!
What a clever way to craft for the holidays! I’ve never worked with wax before but it seems like fun!
What an incredibly unique idea for an ornament! We love beeswax and use it for a bunch of homemade things, but never thought of ornaments before. I think my kids would love this.
What a great idea for an ornament – these are so unique. I love making homemade things for gifts too.
Thanks so much, Debra! I think homemade gifts are the bomb! I love to give AND receive them.
Wow, what a creative idea. I would have never thought to make ornaments from beeswax. They turned out so beautiful.
These are so creative and cute! How original! They would make some awesome gifts or stocking stuffers. Thanks for the idea!
Thank you, Stephanie! I think they are great gifts — I’ll be giving some as gifts this year. 🙂
These ornaments are so creative! I love it – and the fact you used beeswax. I am going to have to try this. I want a hive, so I am bookmarking this for next year!
Wonderful to hear, Heather! And I admire you for wanting to keep a hive!
Wow! These are beautiful and they seem simple enough to make. We love DIY projects and we’ll give them a try this weekend.
This is super helpful! My husband bought beeswax like this awhile ago for a project he was doing and I have left over. I never knew what to do with it!
Omg how cute are these ornaments?!?! My daughter and I love making ornmaofor the tree. Might just have to make these
This is definitely different. What is interesting was that I was going to buy some beewax anyways to make lip balm would of never thought it could be used for ornaments!
I haven’t made a beeswax ornament ever, but I have made beeswax candles. That was super easy and a lot of fun. I bet this is too.
I have never made a beeswax ornament! That looks super cool and fairly easy! Even a beginner like myself.could probably handle it!
These are so cute and so original, it’s my first time hearing of them, but I like them.
What a cute and unique idea! I’m hoping to start beekeeping and these would be great gifts or promotional items! Thanks!
That’s pretty cool. I love the Angel wings. You can even make a little money on the side during the holidays doing this. It’s a win-win.
I didn’t realize beeswax was so important for those that sew. It makes sense that it would help with the thread though.
Yeah, I didn’t know about this until I began embroidering seriously about five years ago and was having a lot of problems with knots. It’s a VERY useful thing to have when hand sewing! I keep beeswax in my sewing kit all the time now.
Interesting idea. Surely i will use these kind of beeswax products