(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)
It's so easy, with stationery, to think of things in terms of usefulness, practicality--to think of our supplies as tools instead of toys, and we forget to play. Then something comes along to remind us to be playful, too. Do I need sealing wax? No. Did I have the most fun ever playing with this sealing wax kit? You betcha.
It first caught my eye because of the Studio Ghibli Howl's Moving Castle theme. That's one of my favorite movies, based on a beloved book. And then there were pretty colors and fire, so... It was a necessity.
The Beverly Sealing Wax set comes with everything you need to entertain yourself for an afternoon, or everything you need to make some seriously adorable wax seals. It has a wee bottle filled with wax pellets in themed colors, a small candle, a melting spoon for the wax, and a wax seal with a themed stamp. There's a set for Kiki's Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky as well. It all looks like something you might find in Howl's bedroom (iykyk). It all comes in a lovely gift box.
To use the kit, you light the candle, place 3-4 wax pellets in the spoon, and hold the spoon over the flame until the wax melts. Then you pour the melted wax over the spot you want to seal, and press the stamp into the pool of wax. Hold it there for 5-10 seconds, then lift it carefully. Pro tip: The wax takes a few minutes to fully solidify. Maybe resist the temptation to touch it. Maybe. Bonus pro tip: The spoon, which was just in fire, is going to be hot for a while, too. The spoon did get a bit coated in soot, but it wiped clean easily.
Once dry and cool, the wax seal is quite solid. You can make the seals on paper, or cut them out and glue them where you want them, or make them on a plastic backing that you can peel off. Basically, go nuts. Seal everything. I know I plan to.
The whole set costs $44.50 at JetPens, which is more than I would have guessed, but isn't too unreasonable. The fixtures and pieces are good quality, sturdy metal and nice wood. You can certainly get similar kits for much less, but they don't have Howl on them, so that's no deal. These are cool enough that folks on BlueSky are asking me to send them Howl-sealed letters, so they're bringing communities together during the death of social media, and that is priceless.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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