At the dawn of mankind, fire became one of the mainsymbols of life. Thanks to its warmth and brightness, primitive people were able to warm themselves by the fire and illuminate their caves, learned how to cook food, burn dishes and harden weapons. Fire has given us, women, the main function: with its emergence, we have become the guardians of the main family value - the home. It is with fire connected most of the ancient magical rites. His strength and power still make a person tremble, because not every fire can be extinguished, even with the use of the most modern means and equipment. Candles are symbols of how people learned to tame the fire and made it serve good. But even their peaceful warm and mysterious light, which so often illuminates romantic evenings of lovers, festive New Year feasts and other celebrations, is only a small illusion of our power over fire. Is not it true that a burning candle flame can be admired endlessly? It is so changeable, so fickle and deceptive, defenseless, because it can fade away even from our breathing. But it stores a huge primitive force, capable of destroying and turning into ashes all around. It is this duality, power, hiding behind visible weakness, and makes the flame of the candle magical and beautiful. So why not try to decorate your home with these hand-crafted tiny ornamental fire containers? After all, it is quite possible that they will become not only an original addition to the interior, but they will also take on the functions of original wards protecting our home from the negative from the outside. And to make these original and useful things yourself is much easier than it may seem at first glance. 
Materials for making candles at home
As a basis for creating this kind of decorYou will need ordinary stearic or paraffin candles, which can be bought at any hardware store. Probably, they are at your home in case of problems with electricity. Even cinderpots of the same color will do. Wax will also be an excellent base for making decorative candles at home. It is better to go to the market where they sell beekeeping products. In this case, note that paraffin products burn faster than stearin, and wax initially have a pleasant aroma, but this material is more fond of, and beginners do not immediately work with it. Therefore, to begin with, practice creating candles from cheaper materials (stearin or paraffin). As a wick, it is best to use a cotton thread, twisted with a rope. Perfectly suitable for this thread "Mulina", which certainly is in the arsenal of any needlewoman. The texture of the wick is also of great importance. So, if you are making decorative wax candles, use thick threads, twisting them not very tightly, for stearic and paraffin waxes it is better to take thinner ones, but to make the tourniquet tight. Do not neglect these recommendations when twisting the wick. After all, the quality of the flame of the future product depends on its thickness. If it is excessive, the candles will smoke, if insufficient - they will start to go out constantly. But it is even easier to use ready-made wicks that are inside purchased paraffin or stearic products. You can get them out by cutting each candle along in half. In addition to these two elements, you can not do without forms. When choosing them, you should decide in which particular form you want to make decorative candles for your home. They can be cast, that is, get out of the form, or be in it as in a beautiful frame. In the first case, you can use any plastic containers, in the lower part of which you can easily cut a hole for the wick: boxes of yogurt, jars from the cream, plastic molds from boxes with sweets and so on. It is better for beginners to choose those tanks that have smooth walls inside, without bulges, because this will allow you to easily extract the ready frozen candles. But on the other hand, the relief molds create a beautiful pattern on the surface of the products. Therefore, the choice is yours. In the second case any transparent and opaque containers are suitable: glass cups, kremanki, copper, silver or porcelain glasses and other vessels, which - for your taste - will be able to become a worthy outer shell of the candle. All this will be easily found in every house. You will also need wooden sticks to attach the wick. For this, take the usual toothpicks. If you want to make colored decorative candles, stock up with a set of wax crayons. With their help, the products will be very easy to give the desired color. Aromatic decorative candles are easy to make with the presence of essential oils (any, except pink, which when heated has a very unpleasant smell). As additional decorations, you can use coffee beans, a variety of cereals, beads, small sea pebbles, shells, glass and so on. Do not forget about the dishes in which you have to melt the stearin, paraffin or wax in a water bath. As you can see, almost all components for making candles at home are very affordable and simple.
The process of making candles at home
When it becomes clear what exactly is needed forIn order to create such beautiful and useful decorations for the house, you can move on to the very process of work. In the first case, it will be about how he himself will learn how to make candles, which are to be taken out of forms. This is the simplest and quickest way, so start better with it. Subsequently, it will become the base for other options. First of all, take the wicks from the candles bought in the store, and then cut the products themselves into small pieces and place them melted into a water bath. As the main container it is better to use a ladle, a saucepan with a spout or a regular mug. This will help to easily pour the finished material into any, even a very narrow shape. If you do not have such dishes at home, use an ordinary tin can, which can be flattened, making a kind of spout. While your base for homemade candles is melting, prepare the forms, where it will have to freeze. So, if you plan to take out finished products from them later, the easiest way to proceed is as follows. In the bottom of your chosen plastic box make a small hole and thread the future wick into it, fixing it with a knot. It is important to place it strictly vertically and accurately in the center of the candle shape, since this is how you can provide uniform combustion to the product. To facilitate the task, take a toothpick (pencil), across it tie it with the free end of the wick and center it with respect to the shape. In the described process it is meant that the bottom of the container used for pouring will later become the top of the candle, so take care of the correct length of the wick. If you do it yourself, then do not forget to soak the thread with melted wax, paraffin or stearin. This will give the wick the necessary rigidity and reduce the loss of material through the hole in the bottom when you pour it into the pouring tank. The molds themselves oil vegetable oil - so you can easily extract the finished candles. Do not be discouraged if you miss this moment. After hardening, place the bottom of the mold under a stream of hot water - this method also makes it easy to remove the products. Now prepare the coloring material. To do this, finely tune the colored wax crayons and put the resulting shavings into a container, where the stearin melts (wax, paraffin). Use the softest of the proposed chalks to get them to melt faster. The fatty base of such an improvised dye will allow him to easily interact with wax, paraffin and stearin. Stir thoroughly with a wooden stick. If you suddenly want to use gouache or watercolor, immediately discard this idea. The water base of these paints will not allow them to dissolve in the main material, they will settle on the bottom or form ugly flakes. Therefore, it is very important to use a fat-containing dye. If you do not have wax crayons at your home or in the nearest station store, you can take lipstick or soft creamy shadows instead. They should also be ground and added to the base in a water bath. When the mass becomes homogeneous and liquid, it will need to be poured into pre-prepared forms. Remember that the substrate can not be brought to a boil - it's enough to dissolve the material thoroughly. Stuffed paraffin (stearin, wax) should be left to solidify. Do not try to speed up the process by sending them to the fridge or freezer. A sharp temperature drop will provoke the appearance of unaesthetic cracks on the surface of the products. Therefore, let the candles take the necessary state at room temperature. To understand if your decorative creations have stiffened, touch the walls and the bottom of the molds. If to the touch they are cool, it's time to evaluate the result. To do this, untie the knot on the bottom of the mold and gently pull the thread from above. Do not be discouraged if you can not get the items on the first try. Plastic form can generally be cut or placed for thirty seconds in the freezer, and then substitute under hot water. That's all, your decorative candles are ready. Now it remains only to correct the length of the wick, and you can ignite them. 
How to make designer candles?
Of course, at present you can useand other materials for the manufacture and dyeing of such products at home. The needlewomen acquire special molds for pouring, finished color pigments that look like tablets, and so on. Of course, the basic process of creating this kind of decorative ornaments is not complicated, so additional improvements will only help to make your creations even more beautiful. According to the algorithm described above, it is possible to make other variants of unusual candles. Pour pre-selected elements of decor in the form of coffee beans, beads or colored glass. The layer should not be thicker than two centimeters, in the middle make a small depression. The melted base in the mold should be poured gradually, otherwise the decor will float to the surface. After setting the first layer in the same way, do the second and so on until you fill the form to the top. Note that in this case, the candles are unlikely to ignite for a long time, this will prevent the decorative elements inside. However, they can become just an original man-made decoration for your home or serve as a small original gift for family and friends. This way of creating candles implies that the top of the product will fit the top of the mold. In the process of solidification, a small depression forms in the wick, it must also be filled with a base. In the end, you can tie a candle with a ribbon. For better fixation, wrap the product around it and iron the fabric with a hot spoon. If you want to make scented candles, then drip a few drops of oil in the base before you pour it into the molds. If you want the products created by you to always be lit and admired by the flame playing on the decor, then go the other way. Remove the finished candle from the mold and place it in the oven for a few seconds. Now a warm base will allow you to glue any jewelry to it. In this form, they do not interfere at all, giving the possibility of the flame free to burn until the candle is out. Look beautiful in the products in a transparent glassware. To do this, you just need to properly fix the wick at the bottom, we do it with a heavy weight. Especially effective your work will be when it will consist of additional layers of original decorative elements and have gentle shades. Openwork products will be obtained if the mold is filled with crushed ice before filling the base, before fixing there a ready-made shop candle of bright color. When the paraffin (stearin, wax) stiffens, you will only have to pour out the remains of water and admire the result. Do not be afraid to experiment using a variety of materials and techniques for making candles. Stock up with special markers, which are called contours. They can be painted on the surface of products. Special stickers will help you create decorative candles in decoupage technique. Arranged around the edges of dried flowers, bamboo sticks, cinnamon, dried fruits, seeds - all this will serve as an excellent decor element for your products. Shells brought from summer holidays on the coast, will make it possible to make candles in the marine style; filled in molds for desserts, your creations will look like confectionery. If you enter into the taste of this extraordinarily creative process, it can happen that the original decorative pieces made of paraffin, stearin or wax will become your unique calling card, and friends will be asked to do something for them. Create, seek and improve! We advise you to read:
