So your candle didn't come out quite like you envisioned. Maybe you were going for a nice smooth finish to create a sophisticated looking candle? Maybe in your excitement to see your beautiful candle you pulled it out of its mold too soon. To your dismay, some of the edges stuck to the side of the mold, leaving you with a candle that appears to have torn blisters on the outside. Not exactly sophisticated, right?

Here are a few suggestions on how to work with your not-quite-right candles:

In the above case, you could try pressing the "blister skin" back into place but you will probably still see a scar. You could let the candle cool completely and try buffing the blemish out with an old nylon pulled tightly around a couple of fingers. You'll probably see little scratch marks though. After that, you could hit it lightly with a heat gun to try to smooth it's appearance.

Still not pretty enough for you and you'd rather not just put it back into your melting pot and start over?

Here are a few more makeover ideas for that ugly duckling candle:

You could go for the gold - literally! Brush a thin layer of Mod Podge over the outside edges of the candle from top to bottom and roll it in a fine gold mica glitter. Instantly your blemish is successfully hidden. Of course, you could always use sand, crystals, coffee grounds or other colored glitter as your camouflage.

Maybe you don't feel like trying any of this because you're too mad at yourself for being impatient. Get over it. Candle making is an art that takes a lot of patience, practice and experimenting. So to get over this, simply go to your candle making journal, make a note on what will happen if you don’t wait long enough before removing and walk away. Next, light that ugly candle, relax and enjoy. If necessary, give it to a friend and explain your mistake. On the other hand, tell them that you're just not sure you really like the newest blistering technique you’ve learned and thought maybe they would enjoy it. I'm sure the next time you go to their house you'll see the blister candle proudly displayed.

All of these repair techniques can be tried for many types of ugly molded candle mishaps such as; jump lines, tiny bubbles on the surface, dents from being dropped into gravel, gouges from trying to put it into a too small box, the wax mottled when you didn't want it to, dye settled funny, or any number of other mishaps.

Sometimes it just takes a little extra care to make an ugly candle feel at home.

As far as container candles go, you're kind of stuck with what you have. You can however, re-melt the wax and start over. Simply place the container on a tray and put it in an oven that is set at its lowest temperature or put it in a shallow pot of simmering water. When the wax has melted, pour it back into your melting pot, fish the wick out and make your necessary adjustments. If this was a layered candle you may end up with a new kind of ugly, as in color. Think before you re-melt.

If you are finding that the wax is not adhering to the sides of the container (which is a somewhat ugly feature), you may have to make sure you are warming the container well before you pour. I've also read somewhere that you can heat the wet spots of containers with a heat gun and the wet spots or un-adhered spot will disappear. I’ve tried that and it really only made the problem worse.

Another option to consider is that you may need to purchase a better wax specifically designed for containers. Unfortunately, the more expensive the container type wax the better your chances are of excellent adhesion...at least that has been my experience.

I actually have a pretty good supply of ugly container candles and I will simply display them with their good sides out, light them and enjoy! I don’t think anyone will even notice.

Try loving an ugly candle – it might make you feel good and it could turn out to be your best candle in the end.

Remember - always use proper candle safety when making or burning candles.