Wax candles went retro when Edison invented the light bulb, but don’t “bee” sad. We can still spark things up with some creative variations on the original long-lasting lighting source. These baker’s dozen of cool candles prove it doesn’t cost a fortune to buy a little flame.

LEGO-look Candles

These LEGO-look candles do a great job of adding wicks to your favorite bricks. Measuring 7.5″ x 3″ x 3″, these oversized recreations of everyone’s fave childhood recreation are made with eco-friendly soy wax and offer 8 wicks for a full range of classic candle lighting.

(images via: A-Plus Store and Curbly)

Available in three colors (red, blue and yellow), the LEGO-look brick candles were designed by P.A.D. and are made in the USA.

Beer Candles

(image via: The Lighter Side)

I’ve heard of “burning the midnight oil” but setting my beer on fire… is nothing sacred anymore? According to the manufacturer‘s ad copy, “Guys will love the fresh brewery fragrance that smells just like a cold one!” I dunno… guys like the sizzle of a juicy t-bone on the BBQ but without the payoff, we’re, well, p’d off. If having your home smell like a brewery without any actual beer involved suits your (obviously evil) purposes, so be it – these beer-scented candles go for under $20 each.

(image via: Baking Shop)

For those who are in a celebratory mood – though who needs a reason to hoist a cool, frosty one? – these beer and champagne candles are the icing on the (probably rum-infused) cake.

Jesus Candles

(image via: Tulumba)

Speaking of nothing being sacred, I give you… Jesus Candles! What you do with them is your own business but just consider that touching a lit flame to the head of Our Lord and Savior (in waxy form) will probably buy you a one-way ticket to a rather warm place of your own.

(image via: Chop Wood, Carry Water)

The coolest thing about these candles is the name “Jesus” helpfully inscribed on the base of each one… just in case you thought you were burning Judas, which might possibly make some small shred of sense.

Light Bulb Candles

(images via: Moolf and Queen B)

Would you buy a sword that shoots bullets? How about a horse that can parallel park? That’s the idea behind Light Bulb Candles – retro function in modern form. Depending on the manufacturer, light bulb candles can be made of standard white paraffin or from environmentally-friendly beeswax, such as the pale golden “eco-bulb” above from Queen B.

(image via: Tokyomango)

What happens when you leave your light bulb candles lit too long? NOT the above – what appears to be a half-melted waxy accident is actually an electric lamp.

Cactus Candles

(images via: Reb Stevenson, Candle Factory Store and The Soc Exchange)

Add some desert to your dessert with Cactus Candles! These waxy wonders evoke the raw beauty and rugged feeling of America’s hottest wilderness destinations, without any need for watering – unless you light a few too many. Start with a prickly pair and move up to lighting a saguaro – your romantic dinner rendezvous will surely end with a come hither glance and a whispered “Are you thorny, baby?”

Bleeding Candles

(images via: Amazon and Candletech)

Goth types already know that candles are cool but wait til they get a load of these Bleeding Candles. Just the thing for accessorizing a dungeon… dragons (and geeks) optional. There’s no secret to how these bleeding candles work – a two-stage dipping process involves creating a red inner candle which is subsequently dipped in white wax. Light it up, and let it bleed!

Powerstrip Candles

(images via: Unplggd and Craziest Gadgets)

What can one say about these Powerstrip Candles that hasn’t been said before? It’s an ingenious concept: “plug” candles into the power-bar base until you achieve the desired level of illumination. You’ll never blow a fuse though you still have to blow them out. It’s a cool idea but alas, not one you can buy: the Powerstrip Candle is a one-off art piece by DesignGlut created for the 2009 ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) offsite show, InDisposed. Its aim is to balance environmentalism and durability through addressing the tension of contemporary design

Matchstick Candles

(images via: Perpetual Kid and MCA Chicago Store)

Strike a blow for creativity with these Matchstick Candles! Just don’t strike the candles… save the waxy buildup for your furniture and floors. NuOp Design crafted this set of a dozen 2.6″ high paraffin candles while freely referencing retro packaging design. The bright red faux-phosphorus match heads are a nice touch as well.

Hand Gesture Candles

(images via: If It’s Hip It’s Here)

Next time someone asks you for a light, just give them the finger. These colorful Hand Gesture Candles from L’atelier WM in Paris, France, were modeled after real human hands for a true to life in-your-face effect. The burn time for each candle is about 3 hours each so keep that in mind next time you want to play Wicked Witch of the West at your next dinner party. Among the more unusual gestures included in the set are the Vulcan “Live Long and Prosper” greeting, the Heavy Metal salute (or “Hook ’em Horns” for UT alumni), and of course the classic single-digit flip off.

Timer Candles

(images via: Amazon and Sportys)

These Timer Candles illustrate a clever way of bringing candles up to modern specs & expectations. The coiled 80 Hour Beeswax Coil Candle (in red, above) and its brethren are constructed in such a way as to burn only as long as you want candlelight. After that it’s lights out, baby.

Bacon Candles

(images via: Kittredge Candles)

It’s tough to beat the warm glow of candlelight and the cloying scent of America’s favorite food (and net meme), bacon. Now you can have your cake and eat it too… er, don’t eat it though, especially if its already lit. According to the designer, the Bacon Candles (which come either as votives or in jars) are triple-scented to smell “EXACTLY like bacon frying in the pan. Your mouth will water when you smell them burning!” Those who are lousy cooks can take solace in the fact that finally something they burn will smell great.

Wine Cork Candles

(images via: GadgetGrid and My Wedding Favors)

Wine bottles make convenient candle holders but any candles you may have on hand might not fit the openings of the bottles. Problem solved: Wine Cork Candles look like corks but burn like candles… which is much better than having wine corks that burn like *cough* corks.

Bomb & TNT Candles

(image via: Rare Bird Finds)

Light the fuse on fun with candles molded in the familiar forms of cartoon bombs and clusters of dynamite sticks. You get all the desirable soft lighting without any of the unwanted explosive fatal injuries and destruction of property. It’s possible those with nefarious ulterior motives will try to use these copycat candles as substitutes for the real thing, but that’s not advised. Leave the candles to the House of Wax or you might find yourself on a one-way trip to the Big House.

(image via: Kittredge Candles)

Wax on, wax off… if Mr. Miyagi knows paraffin is paramount, so should you. Easily molded into an endless number of forms and, once lit, burning at a safe and controlled rate, today’s edgy and amusing designs ensure even the wildest home decor scheme is never too hot to candle.