Hanukkah Menorah of Crayon Candles

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.)