Doing | Beeswax Candles

Beeswax has a myriad of wonderful qualities, not least for candle-making. For one, it’s hypoallergenic, helping to purify the air as it burns. These candles tend to be relatively scent-free and drip-free, so you can burn them at the dinner table. And of course they’re beautiful to look at – their intricate honeycomb shards glowing as they burn. Completely mesmerising. They’d also make ideal little gifts and wedding favours.

Beeswax candles can be made at home using just a few materials, some of which you may already have, the rest are easy to find. It’s also rather therapeutic to roll your own, as the instructions below will guide you.

You will need:

- Sheets of beeswax. We source ours from a beekeeper in the family, but they are easy to find in any beekeeping-supply store. There’s plenty of sizes and colours available, depending on the look you’re going for. We use 16 by 8 inch for a thicker candle with ten hours of burn time, or 8 by 8 inch for a thinner candle which will burn for five hours.

- Cotton candle wick.

- Scissors or snips.

- A burning candle.

- String and dried flowers to decorate (optional).

Step One

Cut a piece of wick to about one inch longer than the width of your beeswax sheet.

Step Two

Place the wick on the edge of the sheet, positioned so that the excess wick protrudes out of one side, and gently press in with your finger.

Step Three

Fold the edge of the candle sheet over once, and press down, to seal in the wick.

Step Four

We find it easier to turn the sheet around 180 degrees at this point. Start to slowly roll the sheet towards you, keeping the roll tight and the edges as straight as possible. It will become easier as you go on, so keeping on rolling!

Step Five

Press the edge down lightly, then hold the join about an inch above a lit candle. This will melt the wax ever so slightly so that you can press in a bit more and seal the join.

Step Six

Trim the wick at the bottom entirely and the wick at the top to about one cm long.

Step Seven

Tie with string and flowers to present as a gift.

Eh voila!

We’ve styled ours with wood-fired candlesticks, a collaboration with British potter Brigitte Colleaux.