A molded candle can light up a room even after the flame is out. The following arrangements draw from the natural beauty of the season, whether the candles are whimsical (three-inch tom turkeys and tiny purple pinecones) or realistic (orange pumpkins, yellow gourds, and green 'Forelle' pears with blushes of red). They're ideal as a centerpiece for the holiday table or as a gift for a dear friend.

The first thing you'll need to make these candles is a mold in which to pour the molten wax. Although the candle mold was invented in France during the fifteenth century, it did not achieve great popularity until the 1800s, when the mass-production methods of the Industrial Revolution made molds affordable for the average person.

Homogeneous candle making, however, is not the goal here. A large selection of molds is available at crafts stores, or you can make your own, as we've done using birch logs and pumpkins. Even a candy mold will do the job. Just don't use plastic, which may melt.

We favor beeswax for its soft, opaque glow, which provides a visual warmth that remains after the wax has been colored. Finally, we dress up some of the candles with paint or petal dust for a realism that plain wax can't achieve.

When you spot a pumpkin with a striking silhouette, make a candle in its likeness (above, left). Grouped together, pumpkin and gourd candles, along with walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, and bittersweet, make an eye-catching display.

Color Glossary
Colorant is sold in blocks; cut 1/4-inch square shavings with a knife or a vegetable peeler. For every pound of bleached beeswax, use the following number of shavings to create the various projects in this article.

A. Tan turkeys: unbleached beeswax; no colorant
B. Off-white turkeys: no colorant
C. Rust turkeys: 4 cherry, 3 sunshine yellow, 1 white
D. Pale-orange pumpkins and gourds: 6 white, 4 brown, 2 rust brown, 2 sunshine yellow, 1 olive
E. Orange pumpkins and gourds: 10 sunshine yellow, 5 rust brown, 2 brown
F. Yellow gourds: 6 sunshine yellow, 4 white, 2 brown, 1/2 rust brown
G. Burnt-orange gourds: 6 sunshine yellow, 4 brown, 4 rust brown, 3 cherry, 3 ruby
H. Violet pinecones: 3 violet, 2 brown, 1 ruby
I. Lavender pinecones: 3 violet, 1 true black
J. Logs: 10 brown, 3 rust brown, 3 true black
K. Pears: 2 olive, 1 turquoise, 1 sunshine yellow, 1/2 rust brown