Making sand candles is fun and easy to do, they make great gifts and it's a nice activity to do together with your children!
Also you can recycle leftovers of candles this way or transform old candles which you don't burn any more, if you want to go 'all natural'; use beeswax, it smells great, there's no harmfull substances in it and it makes the most beautifull candles!

Step 1: Gather You Materials

It's time to make sand candles, first gather your materials.

- Some old candles (or leftovers of candles) or beeswax
- an old pan to melt the wax in (or a can if you want to melt the wax 'au bain Marie') and something to stir
- candle wick
- a bowl filled with moist sand
- molds of your choice (for instance seashells, sand molds, drinking glasses, small baking tins etc.)
- a stick which is a little thicker then the wick you use and a bit longer than the diameter of your bowl

Step 2: Prepare Your Mold

Gently press your molds into the moist sand in the bowl, if you're having trouble pushing the molds all the way in the sand then make the sand a little looser with your hands and try again.

Step 3: Take the Molds Out

Take the molds out of the sand and look if you are happy with the result, if not, repeat the last step.

Step 4: Insert the Wick

Use a stick, which is a little thicker then the wick you intend to use, to make a hole in the sand where the wick will go.
Cut off a piece of wick (make sure it's not to short!, see next step for an example of how long the wick should be) and stick it in the hole you just made, use a little bit of sand to close the hole up, if you use to much it will be visible when the candle is done.

Step 5: Pour the Wax

Melt the wax in your pan, let it cool off a little bit; if it's to hot when you pour it, a lot of sand will stick to your candle and you won't be able to recongnize the shape of the mold.
Put a stick on top of your bowl and hang the wicks over it to make sure that they will stay in place.

Then slowly pur the wax into the mold, make sure that you fill up the entire mold.

Step 6: Cut Away the Excess (if Necessary)

If some off the wax has drained out of the mold you can cut the excess wax off with a potato knife, the best moment to do this is when the wax has soldified a bit but not completely.
If there's no excess wax, just wait :)