How to Make Chanuka Candles With Beeswax Sheets

Children and adults alike enjoy making their own Hanukkah candles out of beeswax honeycomb sheets.

Making candles is a wonderful Hanukkah craft. Hand rolled candles made from nicely textured honeycomb beeswax sheets is a fun way to create beautiful Hanukkah candles. The whole family will enjoy making sets of Hanukkah candles together before the holiday.

Hanukkah Candles

To celebrate Hanukkah, each person needs 44 candles. For this project, each person will need 8 honeycomb beeswax candle sheets.

Hanukkah candles must burn for at least one hour. These 6-inch-tall beeswax candles will burn longer than the requisite hour.

Popular colors for Hanukkah candles include natural golden honey, royal blue, and white. Beeswax candle making sheets come in a wide variety of colors to suit many tastes.

Beeswax Candle Sheets and Candle Wick

Beeswax sheets are most often sold as 8-inch by 16-inch rectangles. The template at the bottom of the page shows how to cut the beeswax sheets.

Each sheet will produce 8 Hanukkah candles, each is 6-inches tall, and one 2-inch-tall strip of beeswax. The leftover strip of wax is perfect for rolling a votive size candle, among other things.

Hand rolled beeswax candles burn best with thick cotton braided wick.

Hand Rolled Hanukkah Candle Making Supplies

To make 44 Hanukkah candles, gather:

• 6 beeswax sheets
• Thick cotton braid wick
• Piece of cardboard 8" x 16"
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Permanent marker
• Sharp craft knife
• Heat gun.

Template for Hand Rolled Beeswax Candle Making

Using a ruler and a pencil, draw the template (found at the bottom of this page) on a piece of cardboard. 

• The top horizontal line is 2 inches from the top of the cardboard rectangle.
• That leaves 6 inches in height for each Hanukkah candle.
• Each piece of wax per candle is 2 inches wide.
• There are 8 Hanukkah candles on the template.

When template is complete, go over pencil lines with a dark, permanent marker.

Making Beeswax Candles for Hanukkah
The following steps can be used to create these attractive handmade Hanukkah candles.

1. Place beeswax honeycomb sheet on top of cardboard template.
2. Holding beeswax sheet in place, carefully slice the sheet over the lines with a craft knife.
3. Cut pieces of wick 6.5 inches in length.
4. Lay wick on vertical side of cut honeycomb sheet.
5. Briefly warm with a heat gun. Be very careful not to over-do this step; do not melt the wax.
6. Starting at the wick, gently roll the wax around the wick so it becomes a candle.

This is a Jewish candle craft that is suitable and safe for children, though young children should have their wicks cut for them, and young children should not handle a heat gun.

Save the extra strip of 2" x 16" beeswax sheet to make a votive or for havdalah candle making.