This tip is for relative, or actual, beginners who
want to make impressive looking candles without too
much fuss.

When candles were made out of necessity it wasn't a
very exciting job. Tallow, animal fat, was melted in a
big pot and a wick dipped into it to get a coating,
pulled out to cool (and harden) then dipped over and
over again until the coats built up into a candle. The
job was made more efficient by draping lots of wicks
over the spokes of a horizontal wagon wheel and
dipping them all together; both ends of each wick at
the same time. Not very interesting after a short
while. Beeswax candles were, and are, a different
thing.

Modern candles are made from paraffin wax and stearin
(a vegetable by-product; good news for vegans who tend
to get carried away at candle-lit suppers) in two main
ways; some  are still dipped but usually only as part
of another process. Large scale commercial candle
making involves pressing powdered wax into a mould
using a purpose built machine; hobby, and small-scale
professional, candle makers generally cast their
candles, in a mould, from melted wax and stearin. This
is cheap, quick and very rewarding. With reasonable
care it can be done in an ordinary kitchen.

If you're candle-making for the first time you'll need
some candle wax (1 or 2kg); some stearin (1/2 kg); a
mould (rigid plastic); some dye blocks (your choice of
colour) and some wick. The wick comes in different
thicknesses, choose a size to match your mould (i.e.
2" wick for a 2" diameter candle). If you already make
candles you needn't have read the last two sentences,
sorry.

Having got your supplies, which should cost around
£10, you'll need an old saucepan and some clean, and
dry, tin cans. Use the saucepan to melt the wax, and
stearin, and the cans to mix the melted mixture with
dye. This saves cleaning the saucepan every time you
change colour. You'll also need an old baking tray.

SAFETY NOTE
Candle wax melts at around 70c. Hot enough to hurt. It
ignites at around 200c. Only ever melt wax, and
stearin, on very low heat; it's better to wait than to
burn. The best way to be safe is to use a pair of wax
melting pots. The pot on the heat contains water, the
other pot sits inside this; the water only needs to
simmer. You can improvise this with two old saucepans,
of course.

Now that you know enough to make a career out of
candle-making here's the tip, at last: Melt and dye
some wax and stearin (70-90% wax). For this part
you'll need a dark colour, dyed quite intensely. Pour
this mix into the baking tray, to make a layer about 5
or 6mm thick. If the baking tray is cold (running
water from a cold tap over the outside for a minute
will chill it enough) the natural surface tension of
the mixture will form a layer at about the right
thickness for you. Let it go hard, it won't take long
at this thickness.

As you're waiting prepare the mould by fitting a
length of wick through the hole and tying the end to a
narrow stick laid across the open end; make sure the
wick's straight. When the layer in the baking tray's
hard break, or cut, it into small pieces and drop them
into the mould. You can put in as many different
colours as you like, in any way you like.

Finish the candle by pouring melted mix, either
uncoloured or very lightly coloured, over the pieces
in the mould so that it fills in all the gaps. The mix
will need to be slightly hotter than it would for an
empty mould because the solid pieces will tend to cool
it down. Once the melted mix sets you'll have a
light-coloured candle with lots of dark-coloured bits
showing through from inside.

As a slight variation of this method put the final
melted fill in a little hotter still and, carefully,
stir the whole lot with a spoon handle. The moving
solid pieces will melt slightly and leave a trail of
colour behind them. The finished candle will have
'smudges' of dark colour.

Another variation requires only a small chunk of dark
coloured mix (made, in this case, from wax without the
stearin because wax melts at a slightly lower
temperature). This time fill the mould with lightly
coloured, molten, mix and then slowly stir it with the
dark chunk pressed firmly onto the end of a cocktail
stick. The dark chunk will melt as it passes through
the hot mix and leave a fine trail behind it. The
finished candle comes out marbled and looks very
'professional'.

Candles you're not happy with can be melted down and
used again, 'though preferably not in your 'clean wax'
saucepan; and you can practice to your heart's content
without using fresh materials until you feel you're
ready. Do this craft safely and enjoy it. Candles make
great ornaments, and presents, and when you're tired
of them you can burn them and make some more.

Every handicraft shop will have a range of candle
making supplies; or you can get everything you need
from Fred Aldous Ltd.