The Complete Candlemaker: Techniques, Projects & Inspiration

A beautifully illustrated project book that teaches you to make over 40 different kinds of candles. Norma Coney focuses on the creative side of candle making, showing you what is possible once you have the basics down.

Why Consider This One

Where “Candle Making Basics” teaches you the fundamentals, Coney’s book shows you what to do with them. This is the book you pick up when you can confidently make a basic pillar or container candle and want to explore marbleized effects, tie-dyed patterns, carved surfaces, sand candles, floating candles, and hurricane shells.

The photography is excellent and genuinely inspiring. Each project comes with clear instructions, but the real value is in seeing the range of what candle making can become. Coney treats the craft as an art form, not just a practical skill, and that perspective is contagious.

What to Expect

At 128 pages, this is a focused book that moves quickly through techniques. Coney assumes some basic familiarity with melting wax and working with wicks, so complete beginners should start elsewhere. But for anyone who has made a few candles and wants to push further, this is an excellent next step.

The book was first published in 1997, but candle making techniques have not changed dramatically since then. The methods Coney describes are still exactly how artisan candle makers work today.