05 March 2012

Set in Wax

Howdy Everyone! Lots of craft ideas lined up for the week. I'll share with you more TADA! items purchased from the Kate's Paperie warehouse sale. I know, I have more...I hope you're not sick of them yet. 

I got a wax seal stamp with my initial, something that I always wanted to have. It was a sweet deal at only $1.00!

Once upon a time, wax seals were used to assure the privacy of letters. If the seal was broken, it had already been read or tampered with.

The original seals were simply melted beeswax, but later on, seals with family crests were impressed on the wax. This way, forgery was avoided, the recipient knew who the letter was from, and the crest gave insight as to the status or personality of the sender. That's why seals were destroyed when its owner passed away.   

I didn't have any sealing wax on hand, but this was a good opportunity to do some blah to TADA! by using old crayons.

I melted the wax with a utility lighter, but as a safer alternative, a glue gun may be used
 {just follow these steps}.

Let the wax/melted crayon drip on the envelope flap and let it cool for a few seconds. Then press on the seal and hold it for a few seconds.

TADA!

The color of the wax also had meaning. Red was used for business correspondence and black indicated mourning.

By using melted crayon, you have a rainbow of colors 
at your finger tips that say "fun" and "festive".

These days, wax seals only serve a decorative purpose. However, the message "this letter is extra special" still comes across.

4 comments:

  1. i always wanted one of those! if i had one, i'd seal everything with it: birthday cards, party invites, credit card bills.

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  2. Thanks for visiting Miss YDB! I agree, these seals are quite versatile. I like how you'd use it for your credit card bill payment -- it will give your bank something to smile about :)

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  3. i love using wax seals! i never thought about melting crayons as wax though! does it make it harder to clean the seal in between uses?

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  4. Thanks for your comment Bellini Bunny (what a fun name!). So far (after using crayons and candles) I have no problems cleaning the wax off the seal. There is hardly any residue :)

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