Floating Candles

Float some candles in the air for a spooky and magical feel.

Be careful and safe with this one, OK? These should not be left unattended.

Step 1: Find your candle's center of gravity

The key here is to find the center of gravity of your candle so that you know where you can hang it from. Here I'm holding the candle between two fingers to see if it settles correctly You can also try balancing it on a finger. Now make a mark just slightly above this point.

I'm doing this test on a new candle, but I'd recommend letting the candle burn until the flame "settles" inside the candle before doing this. The candle will be burning a little slower here and give you a bit more burn time in the end.

Comments

[lorrainet]

I had a similar idea years ago based on the Hogwarts floating candles from Harry Potter but I made them out of construction paper and hung them on fishing wire! They look great in black lights - you can't see the wire, the white paper glows and they have become one of my most popular Halloween House decorations. Best part - no FIRE! Great to have around a house full of kids.

[maven]

Best idea I've seen yet, and with the candle flicker LEDs that are out now...this could be quite fun.

[tellner]

You could use a black Sharpie to cut down on the reflectivity of the wire

[greentea]

Just a thought but with a long needle ( I've seen ones up to 9inch.) and a somewhat soft candle wouldn't it be feasible to heat the point push it through the candle from crown to base then up the other side trailing the wire. This way it wont simple pull out and the bit of wire on the bottom could be covered with wax drippings from another candle with relative ease.

This is a good instuctable but its just a thought I had while reading it. I'm going to play around with doing this now.

[hanelyp]

I had a similar thought, using a heated wire to melt a hole through the candle instead of drilling.

[rhino21]

you could use fishing line!

[sharlston]

monofilament would burn

[Jezter Long]

Just a Tip, If you do make this and the candle falls and wax gets on your carpet.  Just grab paper lowels fold 4 sheets and put it on the wax, go over the wax with a hot iron.  The wax will get obsorbed by the paper towls, just make sure to change them often, if the carpet starts to get too hot the wax will seep down intead of up!

[revelae]

idea: you could use a frosted glass oil lamp shaped like a candle and adapt a hanging method. that way you dont have to worry about the "candle" falling on the ground and getting wax everywhere.

[jeffconnelly]

What was that about Roman Candles?
lol

[bdunni88]

 fishing line would work too

[jhvh.one]

i'd be wary of using monofilament...it tends to melt when near a candle flame

[Goodhart]

Could you possibly use a less glossy, maybe even colored black "thread or string" that would hold them up and be less visible (other then that, this is a great idea)

 

[bdunni88]

 I'd guess that falling a few feet would put the candle out.

[zimmemic25]

what do i do if the candle burns to the "center of gravity"? call the firefighters?

[Ian01]

 As it burns, its center of gravity gets lower. No reason to worry about it turning over.

[nate121]

simple solution put a bowl of water below the candle

[fungus amungus]

The candle will burn past the wire, drop off of it, and spread wax on the ground long before that will happen.

[Mikeymo]

A safe alternative is to use the battery operated candles.

[ItsTheHobbs]

 Sweet! I like the candle holder the best. 

[runfromnuke]

OH!  I just had an awesome idea for this!

Why not make a clear acrylic candle holder with no base specifically for this project?  What I mean to say is, sculpt a candle-holder out of something clear (like acrylic) and then let the stem taper off into nothing.  After it dries, paint the top part and let the paint fade off before it gets to the end of the stem.

It's just and idea, but I think it would look flippin' sweet!  I might have to try it sometime.

[mad_scientist]

 Maybe you could just hang it from the very bottom of the candle and then add a weight to the bottom of the candle to solve the balance issues. That way, no matter how low the candle burns, the weight will keep it orientated correctly.

[mad_scientist]

 * oriented, not orientated. My bad.

[bowmaster]

I would use to wires. One near the middle and the other near the bottom.

[hidethecake]

I like this and I might try it, but doesn't it pour molten wax all over the ground?

[guitarman63mm]

Seems like you could just take a threaded rod, drill a hole in the wall, thread it in that hole, and put the other side into the middle of the candle's base. Then there's none of that string glare or center of gravity stuff.

[fungus amungus]

Then you're stuck to the wall. The goal is to have it floating in the middle of a room. Like over a dining table.

[guitarman63mm]

Ah! Point taken. I thought this was immediately up against a wall, I skimmed the 'ible, should have read it more thoroughly. My apologies.

[kaze805]

How long does it burn before the center of gravity changes and the candles start tipping over?

[fungus amungus]

The center of gravity keeps moving down as the candle burns. This means that the candle will get more stable as time passes. Just don't let it go too far or else the wire will pull up through the top and hot wax goes everywhere.

[NathanMc]

You can ignore that reply. I'm slightly dyslexic so I read flipping instead of tipping.

[NathanMc]

The candle won't flip over. The center of gravity will change but the heavy end of the candle will become the bottom end because the wax melts and goes toward the bottom of the candle. In order for it to flip over the portion of the candle that is above the supporting wire would have to become heavier than that below the wire, and that's not possible. It is possible for the candle to become unbalanced and no longer hang perfectly vertical (at a slight angle) but it won't flip over.

[MJTH]

Depending on what type of candle the candle could flip over. The flames could act as a properlor, pushing it back the other way.

[the_better_nacho]

negative ghostrider. no matter what candle, it will not tip over. most candles nowadays have the 'self-burning' wax that evaporates as it heats up and there is no dripping of the wax (unless you tip it over). even candles that have normal wax that will drip, the weight will not rise on the candle and keep going lower, making the candle more and more stable until it gets to the wire.. then becoming a wax bomb, but at least the flame goes out.

[lorrwill]

Your recommendation about being brave and stupid made me lol!

[fuzvulf]

Good instructable. The problem with the shiny spots can be taken care of with a little flat black barbeque paint. I also have seen one where they used a stainless steel leader wire. The stainless steel leader wire is inserted down the center of the candle long way. It is mildly visible at first but after a few minutes the soot from the candle burning turns it black and hence, invisible against most backgrounds where these would be appropriate. Keep up the great work. Fuzzy

[finfan7]

I read this instructable and then a couple hours later I got an idea. What if you used mildly hard candles, ran the wire straight down in one side of the candle back up in the other and then put a bit of tension on the wire to keep it low enough to help diminish shine. that way there would be less shine and it would slowly lower as the candle burned.

[laci37]

With a second string crossing the first you can stablize the candle even more

[strumbot]

you could try the black coated guitar strings they might reduce the glare.

[tristan993]

i like your recommendations