How to Make Wax Seals With a Melting Spoon
If you’ve been around for any length of time, then you already know that I’m pretty obsessed with wax seals! I’ve been using them in personal AND wedding client stationery for years now and I don’t intend to stop anytime soon! I’m getting pretty good at this game ;)
While my first wax seals were created with a melting spoon (our family teaspoon, actually!), I primarily use a glue gun to create wax seals for the sake of ease and speed. After all, I’m usually creating more than one hundred seals at a time when I’m working with clients, so time is money! But lately I’ve been favoring the melting spoon method. It feels more authentic, a little more elegant and gives me a chance to play around with different wax colors and even some fun marbled effects. Due to my recent obsession, I decided that it was time for another wax seal tutorial (don’t forget to check out my first video with some of my favorite tips)!
Watch the full video here or scroll down for my step by step photos:
Can you see why I’m so addicted?? I feel so “fancy” when I’m working with this melting spoon that I picked up from Artisaire. And while you definitely don’t NEED something like this, it’s super fun to have and play around with, and it’s nice to have the family teaspoon back in the kitchen… where it probably belongs, haha!
Wax Seals with a Melting Spoon Tutorial:
Supplies:
Wax Seal Stamp: I used this design in “C”
Melting Spoon: I used the Grace spoon from Artisaire
Sealing Wax Beads: I used Antique Gold
Ice (I like to keep mine in a plastic bag)
Towel or cloth
Melt the Wax
The first thing you are going to do is start melting the wax. While the beads are designed to create a single 1” stamp each, I always throw 2 beads into the spoon for every stamp that I want to make. Some of the wax stays on the spoon after you have poured the wax, and as a bonus, I really enjoy a more organic edge that usually happens with a little more wax is applied.
Chill the Stamp
While the wax is melting, place your stamp on the ice. This will allow the brass or metal part of the stamp to cool, which will make the entire process move faster (especially important if you are stamping more than one seal), and gives you a cleaner stamp all together.
Pour The Wax
Once the wax is melted, you are ready to pour! If you notice that the wax is bubbling or flowing quickly within the spoon, hold it away from the flame for a few moments to allow the wax to cool a little before you pour it. Wax that is too hot will not give you a good impression, could cause the paper to warp and will probably leave bubbles and texture on the surface of your seal. Not pretty!
Apply the Stamp
Now that your wax is in place, it’s time to place your stamp—before you do so, dab it off on a piece of cloth or towel. Honestly, I’ve done a quick wipe on my jeans before when in a hurry. This is to make sure that all of the condensation or water droplets on the stamp are gone BEFORE you touch your wax with the stamp—as you can probably guess, this will add texture or a bubble on your seal, which isn’t the goal.
Reveal Your Stamp!
How do you know when your stamp is ready? If you touch it and the wax moves with your stamp, then it’s not done. If you wax was hot or your stamp not chilled enough, it might take up to a minute. Once the stamp is cooled, it should just pop off of the wax seal, revealing the perfect beauty underneath!
Marbled Wax Seals:
To create a marbled wax seal with a spoon, simply apply the wax colors that you want to include into the melting spoon at the same time. I have found that the WAY that you pour the wax will give you different results—if you want to see those in action, leave me a comment down below!
Added bonus: My friend at Paper Ocelot featured a few different marbling techniques in her Instagram tutorials using both a spoon and a sealing wax glue gun if you’re interested in seeing more options!