A beautiful and colorful scented candle makes a wonderful holiday gift. But making candles, while seemingly simple, is a multistage process that can actually be quite dangerous, and should be done only by adults who take necessary precautions, says Larry Marano, president of Windy Hill Candle Factory at 5201 Route 79 in Port Crane.

The factory produces thousands of candles per week, including tea lights, votives, pillar candles for use in churches and jar candles with names such as "Crème Brulee," "Blueberry Patch," "Tropical Island," "Witches Brew" and even one called "Sex on the Beach." Windy Hill Candle Factory will offer free candle-making demonstrations at 2 p.m. today and Dec. 2. (Normal hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, except major holidays. For more information, go to www.candleme.com.)

It is fascinating to see how the factory makes candles en masse in several antiquated Italian machines in the back for both wholesale and retail. But the production of the scented colored jar candles in the front of the store is where you can learn the real tricks of the candle-making trade -- and what precautionary measures to take if you attempt to make them on your own. "Candle making is actually very labor intensive," Marano says. "Candles are a two-day, multi-stage process."

(If you're looking for something easier, the factory does sell jars with attached wicks so you can melt old crayons and pour them into the jars.)

The factory tour illustrates jar candle making, but doesn't highlight everything at Windy Hill. "We have our own secret recipes," Marano said. And those, he said, they never give out. The company makes candles in the following steps:

Step one

"We take 10-pound slabs that come in boxes of 2,500 and we put them in our melters in the evening. Every day, 365 days a year, we have our melters going," Marano says. The melters work on a double-boiler principle, by heating the wax over heated water to 190 degrees, just below boiling.

"Heating wax directly on a stove can cause serious fires and explosions that cannot be extinguished with water or a household fire extinguisher," Marano says, adding that any fires must be extinguished by a carbon dioxide extinguisher, or with a wet towel to suffocate the flames.

Step Two

"We use the jars we use from the Ball canning jars made by Jarden Home Brand, Inc. because they have heat-treated glass," Marano says.

Step Three

Add dyes directly to the melted wax as desired. Wait 10 or 15 minutes for the dye to melt.

The factory pre-melts dyes, which is not recommended for the home candle maker.

Step Four

Candle scents or fragrances come in highly concentrated forms and can be purchased from chemists who make them for perfume and candle making. Candle-making scent chemicals that mimic natural scents, such as apple, must be oil based. Add a scent to the melted wax.

Step Five

Glue wick to the bottom of the center of the jar. Lean jar to one side and then carefully pour in scented, colored hot wax. Save approximately 20 percent of the wax.

Step Six

Adjust the wick in the somewhat hardened wax so that it is standing straight up. As the wax congeals, the wick will stay steady.

Step Seven

Let it sit overnight.

Step Eight

Safely reheat leftover wax and add in a second pour to "top off" the jar. Let it harden.

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