I am a huge fan of making do with what I've got.  It makes me really happy to be able to use the tools and materials I already have on hand to make the things that I need.  As much as I love doing it, making do still isn't my default when it comes to making.  My first instinct is to head to the net and find the materials or tools I need.

That's exactly what happened on the weekend when I needed to make beeswax tea light candles for our Winter Solstice lanterns.  I jumped online to find a retailer selling the materials I needed.  Naturally there was no-one in my local area and because I had left it to the last minute I couldn't order anything online and wait for the postie to deliver. 

What to do?  Stop focussing on the end product (beeswax tea light candle in a glass container) and start thinking about what I needed (candle for paper lantern).  Once I started thinking about what I needed it was easier to see how what I already had could be used to make what I needed.  The star shaped ice cube mould I had used a few years ago to make candles for Christmas gifts would do just nicely.