...Make your own Advent Candles...

...out of stuff you (probably) already have on hand...

...when I realized that Advent was already upon us...and I didn't have any candles for the wreath...I thought...hmmmnnn...I think I have everything I need to make some...

...so that's just what we did...

...last year's candles...burned down to nubs...

...so I took just a plain dinner candle...

...and wrapped it in wax paper...

...just rolled it up nice and snug...it's about 4 layers thick rolled this way...

...taped the side seam...

...made a mark for how full to fill it with molten wax...

...and slipped the candle out...

...then I took some plain white candles...

...and sorted through Scout's old tin of crayons...

...and found several purple ones and a couple of pink ones...

...I washed out a used tin can...and formed a little spout...

...broke up some crayons in the tin...

...and set it and one of the white candles in the tin in a pot of water on the stove...

...and then I discovered that the melting occurs a lot faster if you break up the candle too...

...just be careful not to break the wick...we're going to re-use that...

...after the wax has melted...fish the wick out of the molten wax...and straighten it out...it will harden up quickly...but it will be too short to reach the top of the wax paper mold...

...but that's ok...because we're going to make a little extension for it...just thread a sewing needle with any old thread...and take a stitch in the bottom of the wick...then leave the thread loose...

...slide the stiff wick into the mold...making sure that the wick extends beyond the thin end...so you can light it later...

...pinch and twist the wax paper around the wick...

...and tape it closed...

...then you need to stand the form up...we found that empty water bottles worked perfectly for this...

...and the wick needs to be centered in the form...so pierce the form with a toothpick and tie the ends of your thread (from the stitch you took at the end of the wick) around the toothpick so that the wick stays upright in the center of the form...

...then carefully pour your molten wax into the form...

...and then repeat the procedure for the other candles...

...and then just leave them to set up...

...I wish I had made a note of how long this took...but I didn't...we were just busy doing something else...and when we came back to this project they were set...

...so...a couple of hours later...we just peeled off the wax paper form...

...and lit the candles...

...they burn perfectly...

~Have a lovely day!