How to Make Candles With Sand

Summer is a time for picnics, sandcastles and trips to the beach. Creating sand candles to decorate your dining table for the summer months will fill your home with the mood of summertime. This is a great craft for children and adults alike, and it can be used for your own decoration. Many create these to sell for profit at markets and swap meets. Some choose to give friends and family in inland areas a true taste of summer at the beach.

Things You'll Need

• Wax
• Candle Wicks
• Large Metal Can
• Metal Mixing Bowl
• Thin Stick

Instructions

1. Fill the metal bowl with sand. Using your hands, a spoon or a small shovel, create a shape in the sand that you want your candle to be. It can be shallow or deep. The best candles will be at least four inches deep. You can create any shape you would like. Simply make sure the shape is deep enough to hold the liquid wax and a candle wick.

2. Fill a cooking pot 1/4 full with water and place it on a burner. Turn stove to medium heat. Fill coffee can about half full with candle wax, and put the coffee can into the pot of water to melt the wax. Be sure to not put the coffee can full of wax directly on the burner. This could overheat the wax. You could also sustain burns from the coffee can. Turn stove top heat down to low after putting the coffee can of wax into the water bath.

3. Cut the candle wick about 6 inches longer than the depth of your mold. You will want the extra wick to tie to a dowel rod, and you don't want the wick to get lost in the wax when you make the candle. Tie a small amount of the wick around the middle of the dowel. Put the wick down to the bottom of the sand mold. Lay the dowel across the top of the mold. The wick should drop down into the mold, but it should be suspended by the stick.

4. Have an adult pour the liquid wax into the sand mold. This must be done by holding the hot coffee can with oven mitts to avoid burns. Pour slowly to eliminate bubbles forming in the wax. Fill the mold almost to the top with candle wax, then allow the candle to sit for a few hours in order for the wax to harden.

5. Remove the candle from the sand bowl. Sand will stick to the outside of the candle, giving it the perfect beach look you desire for summertime festivities. Brush off the excess sand from around the outside of the candle. Trim the wick so that one inch is sticking out from the top of the candle.

Tips & Warnings

• Use your imagination when designing your castle.

• Don't allow young children to attempt this craft on their own. You must have adult supervision when working with hot wax.

• Hot wax can result in severe burns. Make sure you are very careful when putting the wax into the sand molds.

• Don't place the metal can directly on the burner when melting the wax. This could result in severe burns.