Handmade Candles Crafts For Christmas decoration

Making candle crafts is fun. Come Christmas I decided to indulge in some craft making with my niece and nephews. We are planning to get a few of these done by tomorrow evening and decorate the house with them. It requires a lot of care and patience. But the end product is always satisfying. Read on to find out more:

Apple Candle holders
Required:
12 Red Delicious apples, Apple corer, 12 small white taper candles, 1 orange, Lemon zester, 12-muffin baking pan or tray, Artificial white pine swag or branches, 4 small artificial holly branches, 4-8 medium pinecones, Florist's wire .
Instructions:
Wash and dry apples. Using apple corer, cut a small plug from the top of each apple. Insert candle. Use large hole on zester to make curls from orange peel. Embellish the tops of the apples with the curls.Group the candles on a pewter muffin pan or tray. For a nod to the holidays to come, place tray on a bed of holiday greens. Wire together holly and pinecones and place one garnish on each side of arrangement, as desired.

Ice Candles
Use a mould (paper milk cartons work well for these) Wick the candle before pouring, but use a wick that you have entirely coated in melted wax, otherwise it will get wet and never dry out, you will have a hard time burning the candle. Alternatively, you can use a taper candle secured in the centre of your milk carton (sticking through the bottom and sealed with putty from the outside). This will form a nice core for a hole-y candle, and will burn well. (again dip the wick end that is exposed in wax to keep it from getting wet). You can try making the candle with different sized ice cubes. Small ones leave small holes, etc. Fill the mould with ice cubes, then pour the melted paraffin over these. Let it harden then pour out the water. Tear away your mould and enjoy your new candle.

Christmas Candle Holder
Paint the outside of a clay pot gold. Cut a 54" piece of the red plaid wire edge ribbon and wrap the length around the wreath, overlapping the width by half. The first end can be tucked in when you are wrapping it around and this will secure it sufficiently but the other end needs to be hot glued in place. There should be a small opening between where you started wrapping the ribbon and where you finished. Take the two gold leaf branches and tuck the ends under the ribbon, one on the side where you started wrapping and the other into the side where you finished. You don't need to hot glue them in place, just use the tip of a pen or pencil to push them down in far enough so the leaves are barely touching each other. Insert the bottom of the clay pot through the ribbon-covered wreath and push the wreath up as far as you can. You should be able to push it halfway up the raised rim of the pot and because you pushed it up so tightly it will stay in place on its own. Insert a votive into the bottom of the pot. When you are ready to light the candle, melt a bit of the wax on the base of the candle to help secure it to the bottom of the pot.

Christmas-Tree-Shaped Candles
Wicking, wax, and color for starters (wax colorant is available but crayons work well too), one fairly tall, thin container - one 1-lb. coffee can per two participants - and a few pencils, pens or chopsticks for easy dipping. Silver and gold glitter comes in handy too. Put a coffee can in a double boiler and fill half- to three-quarters-full with wax and colorant. Melt over low heat. Tie a length of wicking to the center of a pencil, pen or chopstick. Make sure the knot is solid. The wick should be long enough so that when you rest the pencil across the coffee can the wick reaches to the bottom of the can.
Stir the wax to mix color evenly. When it's melted, remove it from the heat and set it on a trivet or other protective surface. Grasp the pencil and dip the wick quickly into the wax. Continue doing this, allowing the wax to harden on the wick between each dip (and dipping quickly so that you don't melt off the wax you just dipped on). As the candle forms, it will naturally assume a triangle shape - the level of the wax in the can will drop gradually and thicken as it cools. Every so often, gently but firmly drop the growing candle down onto the tabletop so that the bottom begins to flatten. Continue the dipping process until you are satisfied with the shape and size of your candle. At this point, hold the candle and gently but firmly press it down onto the table to flatten the bottom and create a stable surface. Hang the pencil over the coffee can overnight to allow candle to harden. Trim the wick.

Squash Candles
Cut the top off an acorn squash. Remove the seeds and innards. Use this hollow squash for a candle mold. You can thread a wick through the bottom of the squash using a long upholstery needle or other large needle. Seal the bottom with a bit of putty. Stand the squash in a large glass to keep it level. Pour your melted paraffin, remembering to keep some in reserve to fill the shrink well as the candle cools. You may have to do this several times, poking a small hole along the wick to relieve any trapped air. When your candle is fully hardened, cut away or peel away the squash shell and you are left with a wonderfully shaped unique candle. The flesh of the squash will leave a rustic patina on your candle as well. Flatten the base of your candle by rubbing it in an old fry pan on low heat.

Bundled Candles
Required:
Footed hurricane vase, 8 to 10 dripless silver candles with flat bottoms, Sheer blue ribbon.
Instructions
Bundle enough candles to fit inside vase and tie them together tightly with ribbon bow.Stand candles in vase. Make sure ribbon will be well away from flames. Never leave burning candles unattended.

Decorative Candles
Required:
Taper candles, Stickers, appropriate for your ocassion, Double boiler or tall can in water filled pot, Sealing wax.
Instructions:
Choose your candle and place stickers around or down one side of candle. Place sticker towards the middle if you plan on burning your candles, as you can not burn below sticker placement. When satisfied with placement dip candles once in the melted sealing wax to "laminate" your stickers onto your candle. Holding onto wick, make sure wax completly covers stickers.

Marbelized Candles
Melt some paraffin in a container in a pan of water on the stove or hot plate. Color it with a contrasting or complimenting color to the original taper color. Heat water to almost boiling in a tall container. Pour to float the colored paraffin on the surface of the hot water in the tall container. Swirl the colored paraffin around gently. Dip your taper candle in the water/colored paraffin vat, swirling it around as you pull it out. It will develop a mottled, swirl pattern of color on its surface. Let it harden and cool. Repeat if you desire.