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hoped for. It's not an exact science, but you can spoon some partially cooled wax down on some white paper from time to time to see if it produces the color you want.

-Pouring the Candles-
When your wax is ready take it to the work area. Fill each mold with candle wax and set a tabbed wick into the center. You may need to wind the extra wick around a pencil and lay it across the top of the can in order to keep the wick from collapsing into the candle. If you have wax remaining you can pour it into lightly oiled muffin tins. Place wicks if you will be using these little muffins as candles, or just let them firm up without wicks and place them in a bag as stock for your next batch of candles.

-Finishing-
Allow your candles to firm up over night. To remove from metal cans, use a can opener to open the bottoms. Hold on to the wick and dip briefly into a small pan of hot or boiling water then push the candle through. If there are sharp streaks in the wax from the seams of the can, dip the candle itself quickly into the hot (not boiling) water, then let it set on a covered surface. The melted outer layer should smooth out very nicely. Votive glasses should require no further attention except to trim the wicks.

-Learning more-
Of course there are many decorative techniques one may use when making candles. You may melt different colored waxes on separate days to pour successive layers of different colors into some of your molds. Pick up a book at your craft store or look for candle making ideas on the web if you want to make some candle gifts or decorator candles.

Candle making is a great activity for kids to prepare holiday gifts for teachers, aunts and grandparents. Once you have tried this method, you will know if you want to encourage any further candle making. Remember you can often find old candles at garage sales. It's a lot of fun to make something useful from something that would otherwise be discarded. Enjoy your candles and have fun with your kids as you explore this hobby!

Learn more about this author, Susan Kliebenstein.
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