Honey, let’s roll
Roll your own beeswax candles: 6 easy projects
Beeswax candles come together easily by rolling and stacking beeswax sheets. Set up a little craft station and make the most eco-friendly candles of the season! You’ll also find instructions for fun candle holders.
Pillar candles
Solid-color pillar candles are incredibly simple to make by rolling strips cut from beeswax sheets. For two-tone candles, roll two strips in different colors together around the wick so they layer on top of each other.
Pillar candle—supplies:
This makes 1 pillar candle.
- One 22 × 38 cm beeswax sheet (8.7 inches × 15.0 inches)
- 13 cm (5.1 in) of SU wick (3 × 10)
- a cutting board or pastry mat
- a ruler
- a craft knife or utility knife.
Make the pillar candle like this:
- Place the beeswax sheet on your work surface and measure and mark the midpoint of the shorter side with a small nick at both the top and bottom edges. Position the ruler between the marks and cut the sheet in half.
- Join the two strips into one long piece by overlapping their short edges by a few millimeters (about 0.08 inches) and pressing them together.
- Press the wick in place along the 11 cm edge of the sheet (4.3 inches) and roll the sheet tightly around the wick on the work surface. When the roll is finished, gently roll the candle against the surface for a moment to compress it.
Tip!
“3 × 10” refers to the number of strands in the wick, i.e., 3 × 10 = 30 strands.
Christmas tree candles
Build the “trees” from pieces cut from beeswax sheets. Make the small trees the same way as the large ones, but start from a roughly 4.5 × 4.5 cm square (1.8 inches × 1.8 inches) and use a shorter wick.
Christmas tree candle—supplies:
This makes 1 large tree candle.
- One 22 × 38 cm beeswax sheet (8.7 inches × 15.0 inches)
- 20 cm (7.9 in) of SU wick (3 × 10)
- a needle with an eye that fits the wick
- a cutting board or pastry mat
- a ruler
- a craft knife or utility knife.
Make the tree candle like this:
- Cut two squares about 6 × 6 cm (2.4 inches × 2.4 inches) for the base.
- Continue cutting the sheet into squares for the next layers, each pair of squares a couple of millimeters smaller on each side than the previous pair, until you reach a 1 × 1 cm square (0.4 inches × 0.4 inches) and have used nearly the whole sheet. You don’t need to measure every square—simply shrink them by eye by placing the previous square on the sheet as a guide.
- Thread the wick through the center of the largest square. Turn the top square so it sits diagonally on the bottom one, creating a symmetrical star.
- Keep threading on the squares in size order until the last square is in place.
- Gently pull the wick and press the stack tighter from the center so the knot sinks into the lowest square. Remove the needle and trim the wick to a suitable length.
Tiny candles and ball candle holders
Tall, slender candles make striking arrangements and look fabulous atop a cake.
Slim candles—supplies:
This makes 7 candles.
- One 22 × 38 cm beeswax sheet (8.7 inches × 15.0 inches)
- 168 cm (66.1 in) of 3 × 10 SU wick
- a cutting board or pastry mat
- a ruler
- a craft knife or utility knife.
Make the slim candles like this:
- Place the beeswax sheet on your work surface and, using the ruler and knife, divide and cut it horizontally into seven sections, each about 5.4 cm wide (2.1 inches).
- Cut the wick into seven 24 cm lengths (9.4 inches).
- Press a piece of wick along the 22 cm edge of each sheet section (8.7 inches) and roll into candles as in the first project.
Ball candle holders—supplies:
This makes 7 candle holders.
- 2 packs of Fimo clay or similar
- a pencil
- parchment paper and a baking sheet.
Make the ball candle holders like this:
- Divide the polymer clay into seven differently sized portions—the smallest at least cherry-tomato sized. Split the largest portion into three pieces of different sizes, and split a couple of the others into two equal pieces.
- Warm the portions in your hands and roll them into balls. Join the two-piece sets into stacks and the three-piece set into a row by pressing the balls together. Using the end of a pencil, press an opening for the candle into every ball, stack, and row. Test that your candles fit and stand upright. Enlarge openings if needed.
- Cure the candle holders in the oven on a parchment-lined baking sheet, following the instructions on the package.
Tapers and patchwork candles
Taper candles—supplies:
This makes 2 solid-color candles.
- One 22 × 38 cm beeswax sheet (8.7 inches × 15.0 inches)
- 42 cm (16.5 in) of SU wick (3 × 9)
- a cutting board or pastry mat
- a ruler
- a craft knife or utility knife.
Make the taper candles like this:
- Cut the beeswax sheet vertically into two parts, and cut the wick into two equal lengths. Press the wick along the 19 cm edge of a sheet section (7.5 inches) and roll the sheet tightly around the wick on the work surface.
- When the roll is finished, gently roll the candle against the surface for a moment to compress it. Make the second candle in the same way.
Patchwork candle—supplies:
This makes 1 patchwork candle.
- One 14 × 19 cm beeswax sheet (5.5 inches × 7.5 inches)
- small pieces of sheets in different colors—enough to assemble an 8 × 19 cm sheet (3.1 inches × 7.5 inches)
- 21 cm (8.3 in) of SU wick (3 × 9)
- a cutting board or pastry mat
- a ruler
- a craft knife or utility knife.
Make the patchwork candle like this:
- Attach the colored patches to extend the solid sheet, overlapping their edges with the edge of the solid sheet and with one another. Warm the seams gently with a hair dryer and press the pieces together with your fingers.
- Let it cool for a moment, then roll the sheet into a candle as in the previous instructions, starting from the solid-color end.
Tip!
When all your beeswax candles are finished, melt leftover sheet scraps or an old candle stub in a small bowl over a water bath, and dip the tips of the wicks a couple of times in the melted wax. The wax makes the candles easier to light.
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