Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

My long-time friend, Noreen, was about to throw out a back issue of Martha Stewart’s Living magazine, when a teaser for one of the articles caught her eye. It was about candles.

I don’t mean the kind you buy in kitchy gift shops or Hallmark stores, or the ones you use to decorate a festive table. Nor do I mean the ones made from pure beeswax that cost a small fortune and are often made for tourists by crafters dressed in Colonial costumes. I mean the down-home, do-it-yourself kind you make to give everyone on your Christmas list when you are young and have no money.

Martha Stewart has nothing on Noreen and me. When our children, who are now thirty-somethings, were barely able to walk, we decided to spend a couple days laboring in each other’s kitchens making such candle creations.

We are organized women, so we began saving variously sized milk cartons (This was before milk came in plastic containers with handles.) and buying paraffin in large quantities. We bought wicks, although I can’t remember where, and gathered double boilers in which to melt the wax.

Our favorite design required that the milk carton be filled with ice with the wick positioned down the center. When we poured the almost bubbly paraffin, it melted the ice and oozed around it. The milk cartons then went into the freezer until the wax rehardened and the carton itself could be stripped from the outside. This had to be done over the sink because, as the carton was removed, the water that had formerly been ice cubes, poured out.

The concept was that the candle would have interesting holes that would not impair its functionality. The reality was that some small pocket of water usually remained intact in the center of the candle near the wick. When the flame burned to that point, the candle went out. I suppose you could say our candles had their own extinguishing mechanisms.

Noreen and I don’t give up easily, but, after two attempts and a bunch of ripped cartons, wobbly candles, and two children who didn’t want to take another afternoon nap, we looked around for some other home grown craft to pursue.

More to come.