Floating Candles

Float some candles in the air for a spooky and magical feel.

Be careful and safe with this one, OK? These should not be left unattended.

The key here is to find the center of gravity of your candle so that you know where you can hang it from. Here I'm holding the candle between two fingers to see if it settles correctly You can also try balancing it on a finger. Now make a mark just slightly above this point.

I'm doing this test on a new candle, but I'd recommend letting the candle burn until the flame "settles" inside the candle before doing this. The candle will be burning a little slower here and give you a bit more burn time in the end.

Using your smallest bit, drill through the candle at this point. Make sure you're going straight across it.

I'm using a guitar string here. It's thin and strong. It's also very shiny as you'll see later. You can either try finding a strong thread to do this as well or try painting the wire so that it has a matte finish for a better effect.

Attach the wires to the ceiling somehow and make sure the candles are completely done moving before you light them up.

Here you can see the reflection off of the wires. Even with this so visible the effect is quite nice.

Keep an eye on the candles and be sure to blow them out before the flame gets too close to the wires and they pull through the soft wax. That's a mess that nobody wants to clean up.

Oh, and again, be careful if you try this. In fact, I recommend that you don't. However, if you're feeling brave and stupid, then go for it.

Oh, but wait, there's more!

I also tried this variation with a heavy candle holder. Without the wax keeping the wires on opposite sides you'll need three wires for this one.

Using the same types of wire, loop them around the top of the candle holder and connect to three points on the ceiling.

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Thanks to randofo for the help with the messy trial and error.