Most of our homeschooling happens through hands-on activities. Baking bread involves the math of the measurements, the science of the yeast, the history of growing wheat, the geography of different types of loaves. Watercolor painting involves the art of the color wheel, the biographies of other artists who have painted in watercolor, the science of color mixing and how not to make one’s colors look like mud.
When my girls and I make modeling beeswax together, we follow my recipe using math skills, but we also have time to relax and enjoy the warm honey scent of melted beeswax. We can think about color theory, or just dye the liquid modeling wax whatever colors please us the most. We can talk about bees and the work that they do, or we can simply talk about our day as we warm the wax in our hands and craft our favorite sculptures. In other words, we can learn and we can play, which is how I best like our days to go.
Store-bought modeling beeswax is wonderful to play with, but it’s also expensive. With the following recipe, you can make your own modeling beeswax just as naturally for a fraction of the cost, and soon you, too, can be learning and playing and creating for your best day.
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Hi, Thank you for this easy recipe, I’d like to know if it is air dry or not. Thanks
Modeling beeswax relies on warmth to make it malleable. When you stop touching it with your warm hands, it will firm up and remain as firm as any other clay without drying out. If you rewarm it, however, perhaps by soaking it in a bowl of warm water, it will regain its malleability, allowing you to re-use it.
Thanks for the tutorial. I’ve been seeing the beeswax clay, but everyone seemed to be using stockmar. We have our own bees, so ‘naturally’ I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making some.
I do like Stockmar modeling beeswax, too, but yeah–if I can make something myself, then I DO!
Hi,
I just wanted to pop in and thank you for the wonderful tips! I’ve been trying to make my own beeswax-based clay and it wouldn’t stick together. Finally it dawned on me to use lanolin- but I didn’t know about mixing in oil and lanolin together at the same time. I’m curious, what purpose does the oil serve? I know that it makes the clay softer, but in the case of petroleum-based clay, it will cause the powder to separate from the wax if you add too much.
Great tutorial, keep ‘em coming!
-Don C.
Mind you, I haven’t done a ton of experimentation, because once I hit upon my recipe I stuck with it, but I’m under the impression that the oil helps make the beeswax more malleable. The lanolin does, too, but lanolin itself is still quite thick, and sticky. I’ve never had a problem with adding too much oil to modeling beeswax, but I have added too much oil to a flour play dough recipe that I was experimenting with once, and the oil DID separate out–gross!
Heh, it’s worse when you try to mix mineral oil with canning paraffin! Weird stuff. I like lanolin, but it’s very expensive where I am. Always looking for a big tub of it. I would use Bag Balm, but it’s a mix of lanolin and petroleum jelly and it kind of reeks of a menthol smell.
So, olive oil will actually make beeswax less sticky? I always thought you had to add some kind of powder like talc or corn starch. Honestly, I wouldn’t experiment so much, but I have a bunch of different waxes and can never seem to buy modeling clay off the shelf that is just right for animation. I’m always adding something to it to improve its consistency. The biggest problem has always been that the stuff sticks to my tools. When it’s crumbly AND sticky, though, that stumps me every time. I think it’s cool you found a ratio that works for you. Hoping some of your luck will rub off on me!
[...] is such a versatile material. My girls and I make crayons and modeling wax out of it for their creative play, candles to light our dinner table, honey-scented ornaments for [...]
Thank You so much for sharing this, I have been thinking about this for a long time, my kids go to a waldorf school and I like modeling beeswax so much better than clay, but you are right it’s so expensive so I really look forward to trying this…
Would regular crayons work for coloring as well? I have everything here that we need but no soy rock crayons. Thanks!
Regular crayons will definitely work. I suggest soy crayons only because regular crayons (ie. Crayola) contain petroleum by-products. If you’re wanting to make modeling wax specifically to be a natural art supply, then you’ll want to use a completely natural pigment. If, however, you’re making modeling wax just to have another super-fun art supply, then conventional crayons will do.
[...] you made candles, or preserved autumn leaves, or cooked up furniture polish, or crafted modeling wax for the kiddos, and now you’re left with a crock pot or bain-marie half-full of melted [...]
Thank you very much for your orientation. I did beeswax for modeling, and I m n ot sure it s ok.
Compared to Stocmar my clay is not bright and it leaves the hands “dirty”. What can I add to make my modelling beeswax more “elastic”, It is sticky and does not strech.
I used exactly your ingredients…but maybe my bees are different
If it’s sticky, it needs more oil.
thanks so much it works great as nose and scar wax
i just leave it a little sticker than usual thanks so much 
Love this!! Would food coloring gel work as a dye or what other options are there? I don’t have soy crayons, only regular Stockmar…and you know I’m not melting those:):)
I’m allergic to lanolin, is there some substitute. It looks really wonderful otherwise and I want to try it with my girls.
[...] harden in portioned muffin tins or silicon molds–with the extra beeswax, make wood polish, or modeling wax, or [...]