Making candles can be a little daunting with the prospect of melting wax, pouring into moulds, trying to get your wick in the right place and so on. Making a candle from rolled beeswax, however, is so much easier.

You will need:

2 Beeswax sheets (available here in the UK or here in the US)

Wicks (available here in the UK or here in the US)

Double boiler pot for melting wax – see below.

1. First you will need to prime your wick – if you have pre-waxed wicks then you can skip this step. In order to melt your wax you will need a double boiler. This means large pan with water in and a smaller pan inside. You will need to arrange it to make sure that the smaller pan does not touch the bottom of the larger pot. Wax should always be heated by such an indirect method – heating it in a pan directly on a stove can be dangerous as wax heats up extremely quickly. Remember that you only need a small amount of wax as all we are doing is priming the wick. Once the wax has melted dip in the wick for approximately 5 minutes. Place the wick somewhere (such as on a sheet of aluminium foil) to dry.
2. Once the primed wick is dry then cut it so that it is 2cms (3/4 inch) longer than your finished candle.
3. Make sure that your beeswax is warm enough to be pliable. If it is a little stiff then briefly warm with a hairdryer – do not overdo this otherwise it will start to melt.
4. Put your beeswax sheet on a hard surface and place the wick along the edge. Now start rolling up the edge of the sheet around the wick. You will need to do this firmly applying constant pressure.
5. When you reach the end of the first sheet then take the second sheet and pinch the edges together. Then continue rolling.
6. All you need to do now is trim the wick if necessary. If your rolling has been uneven you may need to trim the bottom of the candle to make it more even.

Your candle is now ready to use!