Homemade Christmas Beeswax Candles and Beaded Candle Holders

Making whimsical and gorgeous candles doesn't have to be time consuming or difficult. You need nothing more than a few kitchen items, colored beeswax sheets, a roll of candlewick, and a hair dryer to make decorative beeswax candles.

You can find most of the supplies at a local hobby store. The sheets of beeswax come in assorted colors, so you may want to decide what your candles you are going to make, before purchasing the sheets.

Making the candles is extremely easy. Check the wax to see if there is a right side. Leave this side up to cut both sides. Use a cookie cutter. If you want a red mitten, use a cookie cutter to cut two red mittens from the beeswax. Cut the candlewick 1/2 inch longer than the length of the mitten. Center the candlewick atop one of the slices, leaving the 1/2 inch sticking out the top. Press the two insides together and if they don't stick, heat it a little with your hair dryer.

If you want really creative designs, lay four sheets on top of one another. Cut out a square of all of them at the same time. Use a smaller cutter of another shape, such as a circle or star and cut out the center of all 4. Exchange the colored centers. If you are using red and white, put the white circle in the center of the red square, and vice versa.

You can paint the candles with gilded powder or glitter by using a dry paintbrush. The gilded powder will not be as translucent as the glitter.

You can make wax tall candles by rolling the wick in the beeswax. Cut the wick 1/2 to 1" longer than the length of the wax sheet. Lay the wick on the sheet with one end at the bottom and the other end sticking out beyond the top. Press the edge of the wax sheet onto the wick, making certain it sticks all the way down. Roll the sheet of wax with the wick inside toward the other edge, building thickness as you continue. Cut when the desired thickness is reached and use your fingers to press a seal down the edge. If it doesn't stick well use the hair dryer to slightly heat.

You can gild the candle, glitter the candle, or cut shapes out of another color of beeswax and roll that around the candle, allowing the base color to show through the holes.

Use a bit of melted wax and attach the candle to a small flameproof dish or candle holder.

The next idea is simple and has been around for years, but is still breath taking when viewing the final results. You can make a beaded candle holder with the kids and have family fun making and giving this wonderful gift.

Measure the width, the measurement around the exterior, of the candle holder that you will be using. I like simple circular holders, but you can adjust for any kind. Measure the height. Now, the tricky part is purchasing the right amount of material. If you want tight beading then you will need the exact amount. A more casual approach is wrapping loosely so that there are some spaces between the rows of beads. Find out how many rows will fit on a candle. Do this by dividing the height of the bead into the height of the candle. Then divide the length of the bead into the width of the candle. This tells you how many beads per row. Multiply the two numbers. To find the amount of wire you will need, multiply the width measurement of the candle times the number of rows and add about 6".

Purchase glass beads that you will be using in the project. You can use multicolored shapes and colors or focus on a monochromatic design. Also get enough thin wire to string them on and good craft glue designed to glue glass to glass.

If you are having the children help, you may want to start the stringing process. Push enough wire through the bead so you can wrap it around and put it through again, twisting it to secure. Add more beads until the wire is filled. Secure the end bead the same way you did the beginning bead.

Simply start at the top of the candle holder and glue the bead at the top and continue gluing about every inch.

A unique candle holder can be a simple mason jar. Decorate the entire jar or just the threads. If you are giving a candle in the decorative holder, make it simple. Use a plain votive or a single color candle. Using a decorative candle and holder both may be too overwhelming.