Beeswax Candle Sheets

Making hand rolled candles from beeswax sheets is both fun and profitable. They do not require melting the wax, so kids can join in on the fun as well (kids are allowed to make them, but adult supervision is required to burn them – sorry kids). You can make pillars, votives, tapers and shaped novelty candles all from the same sheets. The possibilities are endless and only limited by the candle maker’s imagination. The following project is to help get you started on the basics, but you will find that once you start playing with the sheets, it is amazing to see the unique candles that can be made. Future issues of the Enlightener will contain more advanced projects, so learn the basics now.

Basic Rolled Pillar

Ingredients:
Beeswax Sheet
Square Braided Wick

Step 1
Warm the wax sheet slightly with a hair dryer (if necessary). Warming the wax will make it easier to work with in cooler room temperatures. Just a slight heat is needed – do not melt the wax.

Step 2
Cut sheets long ways so the width of the newly cut sheet will be the height of the finished candle.

Step 3
Place sheet shiny side down, and position wick as shown below. The wick should be offset ½ inch so it extends ½ inch past the top and ½ inch from the bottom.

Step 4
Carefully fold the wax over the wick trying to keep the edge as round as possible and keep rolling firmly like you would roll a sleeping bag or like how paper towels are rolled around the cardboard tube.

Step 5
Keep the top and bottom of the wax even as you firmly roll the wax. The end result will be a tightly rolled candle with a flat top and bottom that looks sort of like a fire cracker. You can add more sheets to make the diameter of the finished candle as large as you want butting the ends of each sheet as you go (do not overlap – but them up against each other nice and straight).

Step 6
When the last sheet has been rolled, press the last seem down tightly against the candle with your thumb and it is ready to light.

The possibilities are endless. You can alternate colors, creatively cut the sheets at angles so the outside wrap spirals up the candle, and even use a cookie cutter to cut shapes out of the outer wrap. Some examples of the above project can be seen by clicking here.