Can someone tell me how I would go about putting a real candle in the centre of the christmas candle cake? How can I do it so that it is nice and neat when inserting in instead of the fondant being spoilt at the edges where its pushed in? do I cover the base of the tea candle as its metal? How much cake do you use, does it consist of 2 cakes?

In this cake she uses a tealight with a plastic base, not metal, she says so in the comments. I guess it doesn't heat up like a metal one might? I don't know, I've never touched a lit tealight so I don't know if they get hot or not! And yes, it looks like 2 cakes, to get the height. I would probably cut a small hole for it to sit it, maybe make sure some sugarpaste goes into the hole slightly so you get a rounded edge next to the candle, then put the candle in that. If you do it as soon as you've covered the cake the sugarpaste will still be soft enough to shape nicely.
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1029523
I love the idea by the way!

I just made one and used a glass votive cup that I set down into the cake. I put the candle into that.

I already have tea lights at home but with a metal base. Couldn't I just cover it will foil or something?

why not put it in a cupcake paper, i doubt it will get hot enough to burn it, most tea lights are led now.

When I made mine I cut the hole out before I put the fondant on it. I did use a metal base tea light candle and we kept it lit for only about 15 minutes with no problem. HTH

Here is a link to mine as I can not attach it here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimelt76/4226507179/

This is soooo cool! I'm definitely making this for my centerpiece for Christmas Eve dinner! Thank you CCer's for your many wonderful ideas and help.