Fill the large pan with hot water and bring to the boil
Pour your wax into the melting pot (or smaller pan/bowl) with the soy dye if you want to add colour to your candles. Rest above the boiling water, like a bain-marie, until all of the wax has melted
Meanwhile, place your bucket or glass jar in a body of hot water (the kitchen sink will do) to heat it up - this will help the wax from cooling down too quickly
Trim your wicks to the desired length of your taper candles. Be careful to leave lots of extra space for you to safely hold the wick without coming into contact with any hot wax, and an extra 2cm that will remain to be lit once the candle is made
One at a time, carefully dunk your wicks into the wax, and hold submerged in the wax until air bubbles appear
When the air bubbles have stopped entirely, remove the wick from the wax, ensuring they’re covered in wax, and straighten them out by hand. Repeat for all of your wicks
When each wick has been dunked in the hot wax, pour the remaining wax into your warm bucket/jar and leave for up to two minutes. You now need the wax at a slightly cooler temperature so that it can build up on the wicks
Now, take one of your coated wicks and gently dip it in and out of the wax a couple of times so that the lengths (save for the space you’re using to hold them and the 2cm for burning) are completely coated in a new layer of wax. Repeat for each wick
After this second round of dunking in the wax, hang them on a drying rack (or somewhere where they won’t be disturbed or smudged!) and leave to completely cool.
When the candles have cooled, repeat step 8 and 9 as frequently as it takes for the wax to build up to the desired thickness of your tapered candle. For 6 candles, this should take roughly around 45 minutes but be patient and allow each candle to cool properly between dips
When they’ve reached the desired thickness, leave your candles to dry for 12 hours
When dry, cut the wick down to the desired length and use a Stanley knife to straighten off the base of the candle

DIY candles: how to make tapered dinner candles in 12 easy steps