Making candles is a fun and rewarding project - but anything involving wax is Messy. I've made candles with molds, by dipping, in containers. By far, this is the least messy method of making candles. All the supplies are either disposable or dedicated to candle-making (so you don't have to spend the aftermath scrubbing). Some are even recycled, like the tin cans and chopsticks. Even the paper cups, if you're willing to save them and clean them after a shindig. Technically, if you're resourceful and you're hoarding your old candles for wax, the only special item you'll need to go buy is the candle wick.

This method is also simple. You can make the candles in all one batch - rather than in shifts like when you're using candle molds. The wick stays in place so you don't have to futz with it. You can use multiple cans for multiple colors of wax.

Let's get candle-making.

Supplies needed:

• candle wax - either new wax or recycled candles
• 1 empty 46 oz. can - the big size of fruit or tomato juice
• 1 empty 6 oz. can - the small size of tomato sauce or condensed milk
• 1 old pot - bigger than the 20 oz. can. I recommend picking up a cheap, old pot at a thrift store or garage sale. Leave it dedicated for candle-making, since clean up is such a pain. You can store the reusable supplies and leftovers inside the empty pan.
• candle wick (make sure it's the right thickness for the diameter of cup). Each candle will take about 5" of wick - but don't cut it up!
• paper cups - make sure they have smooth sides and are wax-coated.
• craft picks - long enough to span across the paper cups. Toothpicks are too short. Bamboo skewers cut in half or popsicle sticks will work in a pinch.
• paper towels
• napkins
• wooden chopsticks - for stirring the wax
• crayons - optional, for coloring candles
• scissors

Make a makeshift double-boiler by placing the big can in the pot. Fill the can about 2/3 full with chunks of wax or old candles. Fill the pan about 2/3 full with water.

Put the stove on very low heat and let the wax melt in it's own sweet time. Wax can catch on fire, SO definitely ALWAYS use a double boiler and melt the wax slowly.

Set up waxed paper on the counter next to the stove. Since wax gets hot and drips a lot, I recommend getting the workspace as close to the stove as possible. As you can see, I put the double boiler on the back burner so it'll be out of the way. Few things are worse than spilling hot water and wax.

A note about wax. Paraffin burns relatively quickly. Beeswax burns relatively slowly, and has a nice smell. There are additives you can add to slow down the burning time. You can always save the leftovers of candles and make new whole ones. There's loads of details about wax - but the easiest thing is to either remelt old candles or get a premixed wax blend at the craft store.

These candles were made out of one gigantic lemongrass candle. It was about 8" in diameter with 3 wicks. Massive. But it melted down very quickly and puddled all over the platter I put it on. It stopped burning with loads of wax to go. So, I finally melted it down and made a dozen (slightly bigger than) votive sized candles.

If you're going to melt different color candles they'll likely melt into a gray color. That is, unless you only melt two colors and they mix into a combination - like orange and pink mixing into a coral color.

I caution against melting different scents together, because you'll likely to get something you don't want to smell as it burns.

As your wax melts, it's time to prep your paper cups.

Flip over the cup and pull the wick tight. You'll want to tie a tight knot on the outside of the cup. This is a little tricky, because you have to pass of the ball of wick through the knot. But you'll get the hang of it.

Make sure the knot is tight.

Cut the wick about 1/4" above the knot.

Set the cups flat on the paper towels. You know there's a hole in the bottom on the cup still. If the following four things happen, you'll be in good shape:
1. Paper towel is down.
2. Cup is sitting flat against clean paper towel.
3. The hole in the cup is all small as it can be.
4. The knot is tight against the cup.

More on this in a moment.

Stir the wax with a wooden chopstick. The beauty of a chopstick is that you can toss it when you're done. So, rinse and save those chopsticks from take-out. Cleaning wax off your everyday utensils is a real pain in the backside. So, either buy a cheap spoon and save it for waxworks, or use something disposable. But watch out - plastic utensils may melt into your wax!

If you want to add color, drop a crayon in. Let it melt and mix it in.

Once the wax has melted, dip the small can into the big one and fill the small can about 1/3 full with the wax. BE CAREFUL, because the metal can will heat up quickly. This is another reason to heat the wax low and slowly. Also a reason to not fill the can too full.

Pour the wax into the paper cup. Refill the small can and top off the paper cup. Fill it to about 3/8" below the knot in the wick. Of course, you can make shorter, boxier sort of candles if you want.

Of course, try to confine your drips to the paper towel as much as possible. Small drips of wax come off pretty easily from stainless steel counters and enamel stoves - but I can't vouch for all materials.

Keep filling the cup until you've used about three-fourths of your big can's wax. You'll need the last fourth in a bit.

Next, go away. Let you candles set up and cool down a bit. But don't forget about them completely and let get stone cold.

Here's an example of two problems with the second layer:
1. not enough wax to fill into the edges.
2. Wax that's a little too cool.

You don't want the first layer to get too cold, because the second layer will sort of sit on top of it.

In both cases, the candle will burn just fine, but isn't as pretty. So, if you're going for an "A" in aesthetics, make sure the wax is hot enough and goes to the edges.