Bees Wax Candles

How to Make Homemade Candle

Candle making just doesn't get any easier than this arts and crafts project -- rolled bees wax candles. Making this handmade candle is so safe and easy, your kids can join in the fun too! There's no melting! There's no mess!

The candles pictured on this page are traditional beeswax pillar candles. To make them, basically all you do is roll a sheet of beeswax around a wick!

Of course, you can use beeswax sheets to make much fancier candles than the ones shown here. But this page will show you the basics to get you started on your creative way.

This is the first rolled beeswax candle I ever made. In the past, I always have made candles using pots of molten wax. I am delighted to have discovered this quick and easy option. I love the attractive honeycomb texture of the beeswax.

Here are the details on how to make this homemade candle. (Thanks to coworker Mike for serving as my hand model.)

Materials

• The sheet I used measured 8 x 16 inches (20 cm x 40 cm).
• Bees wax sheets come in assorted colors, including natural.

Wick

• Wicking often is sold in spools. There are several types of wicking. For pillar bees wax candles made from beeswax sheets, use the "square braided" kind.
• Length depends on size of beeswax sheet you use. To begin, cut a piece of wicking about one inch longer than the height the candle will be. (You will later trim the wick a bit.)

Instructions

The wax sheet should be room temperature. See this craft tip for more information.

If you already have scraps from making other candles (preferably the same color), skip this step and use the leftover wax to prime the wick.


Place the wick (unprimed) along the edge of the beeswax sheet, as shown in the first photo below. Roll the wax around the wick until the wick is completely covered, as shown in the second photo below.

• The wick needs to be flush against the bottom of the finished candle. If you want to, before you start rolling you can have the wick extend a little beyond the edge of the sheet that will be the bottom of the candle, then snip it off later when the candle is completed.
• To ensure proper burning of the candle, press the wax firmly into the wick for the first roll around.

Continue rolling the candle. As you roll, take care to keep the edges level. After you have rolled the entire sheet, press the edge smoothly to the candle so it does not unravel. (See the four photos below.)

Before you light the candle, cut the wick to 5/8 inch (1.5 cm), as shown in third photo below.

For more Christmas craft ideas, see the Christmas Arts and Crafts Idea page.


This arts and crafts project was really easy candle making, but sometime you may want to make candles by other methods that involve melting wax. When you do, please be sure to read these candle making safety tips.

And to clean up spilled wax from various surfaces, read these suggestions on how to remove candle wax.


Please feel free to link to this page! Here is what your link will look like:

To make these attractive and easy Bees Wax Candles using beeswax sheets, see the step-by-step tutorial and photos on the How To Arts and Crafts.com website.