This weekend, inspired by my friend Sherrie, I tried something new – making candles. It's something I've wanted to try for a long time, and I'm so happy I finally did. Materials: recycled jam jars, bamboo skewers, candle wicking and the metal tabs you use to anchor the wick, and a giant block of beeswax. I got mine at the farmer's market, but you can actually get it at the health food or art supply store, too. I got the wicking and the tabs at the art supply store, for about $5. I melted the wax in a stainless steel bowl (thank you, Value Village!) over simmering water. It took some time. Meanwhile, I set up the jars. It's pretty straightforward. I used melted wax from another candle to anchor the wicks in the bottom of the jars, and wrapped the wicks around the bamboo skewers to keep them straight. Checking in on the beeswax... Ready to pour! I covered my work surface with parchment paper just to keep things clean. I used a 1/2 cup ladle that I had lying around (where do these things come from?) to pour the wax because I thought it might keep things a bit tidier. Here goes... The wax started to cool almost immediately. It took another six hours or so for them to harden completely. Ta-da! That giant block of beeswax yielded three candles – and made my house smell amazing for the rest of the day. I can't wait to try them out. I think these would make a great gift, and provided you're doing all the work with the hot wax, it would be a fun project to do with your kids, too. They could help cut and tie the wicks, supervise the pouring, and create special labels for the candles. Maybe as a Valentine's Day present for someone special? (If this has piqued your interest, here's lots more info on making candles.)