Taper candles are the perfect ones to use to create an ambiance of elegance. You can get tapered candles as scented and unscented. If you want to have a candlelight dinner it is best to use unscented taper candles so that the scent won't interfere with the food. You will also want to use dripless candles so that you won't have to worry about wax dripping on your expensive furniture. You can buy the taper candles in a store or online, or you can get really creative and make your own at home.

Taper candles are long and slender and require a candle holder with a small hole in which you insert the end of the candle. They cannot stand on their own like pillar candles and are not enclosed in a jar. A tapered candle can range in length from six to twenty inches, so it is important to have the proper candleholder for the candle to ensure that it won't tip over. If you don't have dripless taper candles, you will have to clean the wax from the candleholder and place a doily or cloth underneath the holders.

In pioneer days, taper candles were made from animal fat. The fat was boiled into a substance called tallow. These tapered candles were yellowish in color and were very sooty with smoke coming from the flame. Today a taper candle is made from paraffin wax to make it dripless. Taper candles made from this kind of wax leave very little residue, but they do burn in a mushroom shape. This means that you may have to trim some of the wax from around the wick each time you want to light the candle.

In order to make your own taper candles at home, you first have to heat the wax to a temperature of 145'F. This is done in a double boiler so that the wax does not come in direct contact with the heat of the stove and burn onto the pot you are using. You will need to have a bowl of cold water close to the boiler as well. To start making a taper candle, dip the wicks you are using into the liquid wax so that they are completely covered. Then dip them into the cold water for a few seconds. This helps the wax to harden. Keep dipping the wicks into the wax and alternating with the cold water until you have the tapered candles the size you want.

Once you get used to making taper candles at home, you can experiment with various colors and scents. You can also experiment with decorating the dripless taper candles. Most people start off making their own tapered candles as a hobby, but when others see the creations, they put in requests. Then the hobby of making taper candles can blossom into a full-fledged business. This is how many of the popular candle companies of today, such as Gold Canyon Candles and Faroy Candles, got started.