How to Make Rolled Candles

Rolled beeswax candles fill a home with the sweet scent of honey while creating a warm ambiance. Learn how to make rolled candles at home and share the fun with your family.

Rolled beeswax candles fill a home with the sweet scent of honey while creating a warm ambiance. Learn how to make rolled candles at home and share the fun with your family.
Introduction
- Making rolled beeswax candles is a fun and easy project for crafters of all ages. Kids enjoy making their own candles and like the honey smell of the wax. Plus, with rolled candles, you don't need to go through the process of melting and pouring wax. Instead, you roll pre-cut sheets of beeswax to form cylindrical freestanding candles.
Step 1: Assemble Your Materials
- To make rolled beeswax candles, you'll only need two items, both of which you can buy from Glory Bee Foods or a craft store.
1. Sheets of beeswax: You can buy sheets singly or in bulk. You need at least one sheet per candle. Sheets come in many different colors.
2. Wicking: Your wicks need to be about 3/4 of an inch longer than the height of your candles. You can buy pre-cut wicks or spools of wicking that you cut to the desired length. HTP wicks work well for beeswax candles. The size of the wick you use will depend on how thick you make your candles.
Step 2: Assemble the Candle
1. Warm the wax. The sheets of beeswax will be easier to manipulate if you work in a warm room or heat them a bit with a hairdryer.
2. Insert the wick. Every candle needs a wick to burn. The wick delivers melted wax to the flame when the candle is lit.
  1. Cut a piece of wicking about 3/4 of an inch longer than you want the candle to be.
  2. Place the wick along one edge of the wax sheet.
  3. Roll the wax tightly around the wick. If the first roll isn't tight enough, the wick may fall out.
3. Roll the candle. Rolling is the easiest process for forming a candle and rolled candles tend to burn longer than other candles.
  1. Roll your candle tightly to prevent smoking and dripping.
  2. Keep the bottom and top edges even.
  3. Cut off excess wax from the sheet once your candle reaches the desired thickness.
  4. Smooth the cut end of the wax with a warm butter knife so that it adheres to the body of the candle.
Step 3: Get Decorative
- Spice up your candles with a little creativity.
1. Create imaginative variations of this basic candle by using several colors of wax and cutting out small pieces from a sheet of beeswax to decorate the outside of the candle. Simply press the cut-outs into the side of the candle until they adhere. If necessary, use a warm knife to smooth them into the side.
2. Make tapered candles by cutting a right triangle out of a sheet of wax rather than using the whole sheet. Roll the triangle just like you roll a square sheet, along one of the edges. When you roll a square sheet, the candle has the same thickness from top to bottom. If you roll a triangle, you'll end up with a candle that gets thinner towards the top as one edge spirals around the outside.
3. Square your candles by pressing the sides of the rolled candle against a hard, flat surface.
Conclusion
- Burn your candles to spread a sweet honey scent through a room. When you feel confident about your skills as a rolled candle-maker, try out more complex techniques. Learn How to Make Taper Candles or How to Make Molded Candles.
Resources for How to Make Rolled Candles
- CandleMakerSupplies.com: Making Rolled Candles
- FamilyFun.com: Beeswax Candles
- Glory Bee Foods, Inc.: Beeswax Sheets
- HappyNews.com: Choosing the Right Wick for Different Types of Candle Making
- IndoIndians.com: Make Rolled Candles
- My Craft Book: Candle Making Instructions and Techniques