Bring some colour to the table with these easy-to-make cones by designer Jill Alblas

What you need...

• Old candles, white, magenta, lime
  Conical candle mould
  Wick
  Saucepan
  Heat-proof bowls
  A large mixing bowl
  Sticky putty
  Wooden barbecue skewer or similar
  Scissors

instructions

1. DIY Candles - 1 Bring a half-full saucepan of water to the boil, then turn it down to a gentle simmer, snip the charred ends of the wick from previously used white candles, break the candles into a heatproof bowl and place on top of the saucepan of simmering water, leaving the candles to melt.
   
   2 Cut wick about twice as long as the height of your mould, thread the wick through the mould and use sticky putty to seal it thoroughly at the tip, fix a skewer across the mould, take the wick over the middle of the skewer and secure the end on the side of the mould.
   
   3 Pour a few centimetres of molten white wax into the mould and leave to set until the surface is completely opaque, about 15–20 minutes, meanwhile break a coloured candle into another heatproof bowl and melt the wax as before, then pour the coloured wax on top of the set white wax.
   
   4 Continue in this way to make as many layers of wax as you wish, when complete carefully place the mould in a large bowl, put a weight on top of the mould then pour cold water in the bowl up to the height of the wax and leave to set for about 30 minutes.
   
   5 The wax will now have formed a dip round the wick, melt a little more wax and top up the dip, place the mould back in the bowl of water and leave to set, remove the sticky tac and skewer, and slide the candle from the mould.