As Thanksgiving approaches children are taught in school about the first settlers and the first Thanksgiving. Give them an insight into the colonial period by making simple dip candles.

You will need:

* Wax or other old candles to melt down

* Wick

* steel washers

* double boiler or a coffee can and a cooking pan

* coffee can full of cold water

* candy thermometer

* sticks

Melt the wax in your double boiler or place it in a coffee can in a pan filled with about three inches of water. Use a wire rack under the coffee can to avoid it being too close to the heat source. Heat the water in the pot on the stove. Be careful not to use a high heat. Use your candy thermometer to measure the temperature of the wax. 180 degrees is optimal. Do not let the wax reach temperatures over 220 degrees or it could burst into flame.

Cut your wick a few inches longer than you want your candle to be. You can use a steel washer tied at one end for weight or use a steel nut. Tie the other end of the wick to a stick so that your hands can’t accidentally come into contact with the hot wax.

When your wax is hot enough, dip the wick into the wax and pull it straight out again. Let the wax cool and harden on the wick. Dip the wick again and pull it straight out. This way you will be adding the wax in layers. As the layers get thicker with subsequent dippings, you can dip the candle in the pan of cold water to harden it faster. Continue to dip the candle until it is the desired thickness. Candles are then hung up to harden completely.

When your candle is done, you can use a sharp knife to trim the bottom end to make it even and flat. Trim the wick to about 1/4 inch.

You have made your own dipped candles, just like the pioneers of yesteryear!

In the runup to Christmas and the other holidays Craftmodo is going to be running a series of projects to help you make great gifts for the festive season.

From the pictures you’ve probably guessed what this one is all about. Yes, ornamental candles will be our first running project. They make great gifts and, being hand-crafted, are appreciated by everyone.

Project 2 will be on how to make scented soaps. This is related to candlemaking in that it deals with the fashioning of a similar kind of substance. But it does require different methods and materials. Again soaps make wonderful presents.

Project 3 will expand on our earlier post about marbling paper. This is really my favourite, so we’ll be looking at how hand-marbled papers can be used in many applications, including scrapbooks and lampshades.

We’ll follow these with other projects to be announced later.