• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The Artisan Life
  • Dot Marker Pages
  • Learning Center
  • Seasonal Printables
    • Winter Printables
    • Valentine's Day printables
    • St. Patrick's Day printables
    • Earth Day
    • Easter printables
    • Mother's Day
    • Fall printables
    • Thanksgiving Printables
    • Christmas Printables
  • Printable Calendars
  • Preschool + K
    • Alphabet Tracing Worksheets
    • Dot Marker Pages
    • Cut & Paste Crafts
    • Preschool Math
    • Fine Motor Practice Pages
    • Spanish Preschool Pages
  • Coloring Pages
  • Shop
  • Recipes
    • Healthy dessert recipes
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Dot Marker Pages
  • Free Printables
    • Preschool worksheets
    • Free Printable Coloring Pages
    • Printable journals & planners
  • Learning Center
  • Shape Templates
  • Coloring Pages
  • St Pat's Printables
  • Desserts
  • Dot Marker Bundle
  • Shop
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Dot Marker Pages
    • Free Printables
      • Preschool worksheets
      • Free Printable Coloring Pages
      • Printable journals & planners
    • Learning Center
    • Shape Templates
    • Coloring Pages
    • St Pat's Printables
    • Desserts
    • Dot Marker Bundle
    • Shop
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×
    Home » Uncategorized

    DIY Rustic Wax Covered LED Taper Candles

    Published: Dec 22, 2016 · Modified: Feb 4, 2025

    101 shares
    • Share

    Discover how to make your own rustic taper candles with this easy tutorial!

    In middle and high school, I'd have an argument each year with my dad about the Christmas candles in my bedroom window. All those little light bulbs in my window annoyed me and kept me awake, so I'd unplug them when I went to bed.

    If the modern, LED, battery operated Christmas candles were around then, I might have left them turned on because they glow more faintly - almost like a real candle instead of that annoyingly bright bulb from the old plug in candles!

    In today's tutorial, I'm sharing how to how to make DIY rustic wax covered LED taper candles you can decorate with all year long!

    DIY Rustic Wax Covered LED Tapers

    This post may include affiliate links, which means I may make a commission on purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. 

    Like many of the tutorials I share, this project is very customizable. You can choose to use beeswax, as I did, soy wax for a whiter look, or even colored or scented wax. You can decorate the tapers for Christmas, tie lace on them for spring, or make them spooky for Halloween.

    Materials needed to make wax covered LED taper candles

    • LED taper candles!
    • Wax. I used beeswax, but you can use pretty much any kind of candle wax
    • A glass jar, I used a pint Ball canning jar, and a pan to make a double boiler with using said glass jar, or a tempered glass cup/glass you don't mind using with wax.
    • A hobby knife or box cutter
    • Decorative items, optional. I used a bit of lace and burlap
    • Oven mits, a towel, or something else to hold the container of melted wax
    • Parchment paper or a nonstick crafting mat
    Homemory 12PCS Flameless LED Taper Candles Lights, NO Remote, Battery...
    Beesworks Yellow Beeswax Bars (6 oz) | 100% Pure, Cosmetic Grade,...
    Homemory 12PCS Flameless LED Taper Candles Lights, NO Remote, Battery...
    Beesworks Yellow Beeswax Bars (6 oz) | 100% Pure, Cosmetic Grade,...
    Amazon Prime
    Amazon Prime
    Homemory 12PCS Flameless LED Taper Candles Lights, NO Remote, Battery...
    Homemory 12PCS Flameless LED Taper Candles Lights, NO Remote, Battery...
    Amazon Prime
    Beesworks Yellow Beeswax Bars (6 oz) | 100% Pure, Cosmetic Grade,...
    Beesworks Yellow Beeswax Bars (6 oz) | 100% Pure, Cosmetic Grade,...
    Amazon Prime

    led-candles

    How to make wax covered LED candles

    The basic process is very simple - melt some wax then dip the taper in! Unless you have a whole lot of wax and a deep container, you'll probably need to carefully tilt the container, preferably a high-sided glass or jar, and dip half a candle at a time.

    You can melt your wax wither in the microwave or in a double boiler on the stove. For two candles, I melted about 2 oz of wax. Melting more wax takes more time, but also makes it easier to dip the candle.

    beeswax

    If you're using the microwave, keep a very close eye on it. It can melt in as little as 2 minutes or take closer to 4-5, so watch the wax carefully and make sure to use a microwave safe container.

    To set up a double boiler, place your wax in a jar or other high-sided, heatable container. Canning jars work well! Put several inches of water in a pan and carefully place the wax filled jar in the water. Try to avoid having the jar sit directly on the bottom. You can carefully set the jar's lip on the edge of the pan, hold it in place with tongs, or even fit the pan with a steamer basked and let the jar sit on the basket. Place your double boiler on a medium-low heat burner and watch it carefully. Some waxes melt very quickly!

    make-a-double-boiler

    While the wax is melting, set out a square of parchment paper.

    Once your wax has melted, carefully use your oven mitts, towel, or something similar to hold your container of melted wax in one hand and carefully dip the bottom end of a taper into the wax. Holding the wax container on its side is helpful - you need to get wax at least half way up the taper. Remove the candle from the wax and allow any excess to drip off. Hold it in the air for a few seconds before setting it on the wax paper - you want the wax to be mostly cool so it doesn't flatten out against the paper and look funny.

    Update - Wearing silicone finger protectors is a really good idea in case your fingers accidentally get too close to the wax! They're also great for any time you work with hot glue.

    No products found.

    Repeat this process with the bottom end of your remaining tapers.

    dip-candle

    If you need to, reheat the wax a little.

    Repeat the dipping process for the 'top' end of your tapers, quickly rotating each taper as you pull it from the wax so any drips will naturally fall down, adding to the realistic 'burning candle' appearance.

    wax-covered-tapers

    After the candles are fully cooled and the wax is no longer tacky, use a hobby knife or box cutter (or even a regular, non serrated kitchen knife) to carefully cut the wax around the base where it unscrews to add batteries.

    cut-bases

    Add batteries, screw the end caps back on, and you're basically ready to rock!

    LED Wax Covered Tapers

    If you'd like, you can decorate your wax covered tapers. I wrapped a simple band of lace and burlap around each candle and held it in place with a dab of hot glue. As mentioned above, you could add just about anything to personalize the candles to your decor or the time of year!

    DIY Rustic Wax Covered Tapers

    This same technique can be used for pillar candles, too, which would be great for tablescapes and displays around the house. I enjoy candles, but I'm paranoid about leaving them unattended or having them in places where they might pose a fire hazard, so using wax dipped LED candles is a fantastic solution for me.

    How about you? Are you one of those people who can leave candles burning and not panic? Or do you insist on keeping an eagle eye on them, like me?

    More Uncategorized

    • Text "free printable all about my teacher questionnaire" with a preview of a cute teacher questionnaire printable
      Free Printable All About my Teacher Questionnaire
    • Text "fine motor tracing worksheets" with a preview of seven fine motor tracing worksheets for preschoolers
      Free Printable Thanksgiving Prewriting Worksheets
    • Free Printable Beginner 4x4 Sudoku Puzzles
    • A preview of two printable November calendar pages for 2023
      Free Printable November Calendar 2023
    101 shares
    • Share
    text "access hundreds of printables now"

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Julie

      December 22, 2016 at 5:25 pm

      AHAHA The war of the candles...! I love candles, I definitely do leave them out burning but make sure nothings around it that could fall on it and catch on fire. Except maybe my cat. But I think he learned his lesson.. HA These are so cute. I wish I had some candles like these now for my staircase/glass wall!

      Reply
      • Natashalh

        December 22, 2016 at 6:33 pm

        So I saw this horrifying video recently in which this jar candle just shot up into flames out of nowhere! My sister swears it happened to a friend of hers. Now I don't want to leave them unattended at all, even without things nearby!

        Reply
    2. Rose

      December 22, 2016 at 5:22 pm

      I love your take on LED candles! I bought some candles for the windows this year. They run on a 6-hour timer, and I have them set to turn off around 10:00 p.m. so they don't keep us up all night. I wouldn't want them shining while I'm trying to sleep either.

      Reply
      • Natashalh

        December 22, 2016 at 6:33 pm

        That's great you have a timer! So convenient. I don't think as many people are out at about late at night, anyway, which is why I kept unplugging mine when I was growing up.

        Reply
    « Older Comments
    Newer Comments »

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Text "Hello! I'm Natasha!" with an image of a woman a blue shirt

    Hi, I’m Natasha! I'm so glad you're here.

    I'm a former classroom teacher with a Masters of the Arts in Teaching turned homeschooler. I share educational & planner printables for busy parents and teachers. Simplify your life when you discover how to instantly access 700+ printables here!

    More about me →

    Popular

    • text "free printable reading log trackers for kids" with a preview of two reading tracker printables
      Free Printable Reading Logs
    • text "free printable reading coloring pages" with a preview of three reading coloring pages for kids
      Free Printable Reading Coloring Pages
    • text "free printable reading log bookmarks' with a preview of two pages of printable reading bookmark
      Free Printable Reading Tracker Bookmarks
    • text "free printable emotions coloring pages for kids" with a preview of three emotions and feelings coloring pages
      Free Printable Emotions and Feelings Coloring Pages

    The Artisan Life is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

    The Artisan Life also uses affiliate links for other sites. For a full look at my policy, please visit its page here.

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer

    Save Time

    • Join the Learning Center for quick & easy access to hundreds of printables

    Contact

    • Contact

    If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: natashalh(at)stalkingthewildsnark(dot)com. I do not accept guest posts and will not respond to unsolicited requests for guest posts or links. Stock images by Depositphotos

    COPYRIGHT © 2012 – 2025 The Artisan Life · ALL RIGHTS RESERVED