Project

Hanukkah Menorah of Crayon Candles

These handmade candles call for two easy-to-find ingredients: crayons and a common pantry staple.

Source: Debi Traub

Introduction

This project comes from Debi Traub of Simply Beautiful Eating. One of her favorite holidays, Hanukkah, is the eight-day Jewish holiday often called the Festival of Lights. At the heart of the festival is the nightly ritual of menorah lighting. The menorah holds nine flames, one of which is referred to as the "shamash." "The shamash is a very important because it is used to kindle the other eight lights," Traub says. The festival of Hanukkah is observed in Jewish homes by the kindling of lights on each night of the holiday—one on the first night, two on the second, and so on until there are eight complete nights. I absolutely love the eighth night because it feels so festive when the menorah is fully lit."

For more ideas, scroll through our entire collection Hanukkah ideas.

materials

9 glass votives or jars (8 small, 1 large)

Shortening

Heatproof glass measuring cup

Paper coffee cup

Crayons

Candle wicks

Scissors

Hot-glue gun and glue sticks

Metal straws for tying wicks

steps

Trim candle wicks down to the height of your jars. Bend wick about 1/3 inch from the end. Using a hot glue gun, glue the wick to the bottom of the glass in the middle. (Note: Some wicks already have a metal middle ring at the bottom that you can use to glue to the jar.)
Place shortening in a heatproof glass measuring cup. Heat in microwave for 30 seconds; stir. Repeat until completely melted. (Note: When measuring, the solid unmelted shortening should pour out at least three quarters of the way up to the rim. Pictured here, we used 1/4 cup of melted shortening for each 4-ounce jar and 1/2 cup melted shortening for the 8-ounce jar.)
Break the tip off of a few crayons and crush into smaller pieces.
Once the shortening is completely melted, mix in crayon pieces, and stir until combined. (Note: You can add more crayon for a deeper color saturation, following about a 2-to-1 ratio of crushed crayons to melted batch of shortening.)
Pour mixture into jar prepared with a wick, which is balanced by wrapping it loosely around a metal straw. Allow to cool completely until hardened. (Note: If layering colors, allow each layer to cool completely before pouring in a second.)
Arrange the eight small jars in a line, placing the larger jar in the center. (Note: We made the larger one by pouring the wax into a heatproof paper coffee cup and letting it cool completely, then carefully removed the cup from the hardened wax.)