Holiday Scents

I know some of you may be thinking it's a bit odd to start planning for the holidays when we haven't even hit Halloween yet. But hey, there's nothing wrong with planning ahead, right? I've been trying out some wintry scents to feature during the coming months and my two favorites so far are Holly Berry and Christmas Tree.

Holly Berry has such a distinct scent that brings me back to the days when I was still young enough to sit in my PJs with a cup of cocoa, awaiting Santa's arrival (wait...I still do that haha). I am definitely in love with this scent. I've been burning my test candle at the office all week and it puts a smile on my face the second I walk into the room.

My second favorite of the holiday scents is Christmas Tree. It smells exactly like a big ol' pine tree and makes me wish it were December already so that me and the fam could go on our search for the perfect tree.

I'll be posting these guys in my Etsy shop within the next week or so, after I've put together a nice holiday scene to feature them. Be on the lookout for these new scents as well as some new teacup candles!

Born in the USA...

Like many people out there, I like to know what things are made of and where they were made before I buy them. Which is why I like working with Ecosoya® soy wax. They guarantee that their soy wax is 100% natural and that their soy beans are grown in the U.S.

Here's a nifty little clip on that topic, from Dan Cap at Nature's Gifts International (the company that makes Ecosoya®), in case anyone is interested: http://vimeo.com/13277252

New Seasonal Scents

The weather up here has been kind of wacky lately. It will be summery and warm one day and then brisk and fall-like the next. The poor trees are getting confused and are already starting to drop their leaves!

While I am sad that summer is coming to an end, autumn is my favorite time of year so I'm super excited for the leaves to start changing. The cool weather has made me think I should start working on some new scents to reflect the coming autumn weather.

I just tried out one scent that I'm calling "Apple Orchard". It smells just like fresh apples, I love it! I also found a scent called "Pumpkin Souffle" but it smells more like pumpkin pie to me, so I'm calling it "Pumpkin Harvest Spice".

I'm so happy with both of the new scents and picking out the fragrances and the colors really put me in the mood for autumn. Here's to a hearty welcome to the chilled fall air, comfy sweaters, and an excuse to wear my boots again:

Which of These Does Not Belong?

I spent a good part of last night trying out different wicks for my tapers. After a few hours of repetitive dipping I finally ended up with two really nice pairs of tapers. So tonight, after they've had plenty of time to cool and solidify, I tested them out to see which wick would burn better.

Normally this process isn't very noteworthy, but you'll see what I mean when I say that the end result cracked me up.

Here are the candles burning after about 40 minutes...so far, so good:

And...here they are about another 30 minutes later:

Any guesses as to which one didn't pass the test? haha. Needless to say, I won't be using the wick that causes the wax to run away from the candlestick. Although it's good for a nice laugh, right?

Ah, the joys of experimentation  ;)

I Love Sales!

I just got an e-mail from Lisa at American Craftsman and she let me know that two of my candles already sold yesterday! This means I'll be working on more candles like crazy within the next few days to beef up my stock.

Her friend is a wedding planner and bought one of my candles. She said she'd be interested in having me do custom orders, which would be so much fun. I recently finished a custom order for a friend of mine and it was particularly enjoyable to work on because it's so nice to have the customer be a part of the process by selecting the scents, picking out the containers, etc.

Anyway, just wanted to do a quick post to share my excitement!

Today's the Day!

This morning my boyfriend and I made the trek to New Paltz to drop off my first batch of candles to be sold at American Craftsman, an awesome shop on N. Front Street.

The owner, Lisa, is so great. Since this is my first time doing consignment, she's walked me through the process and gave me a ton of advice. I hope anyone who starts doing consignment has someone like Lisa to help them out...otherwise it could be a bit overwhelming!

As I write, my candles are now displayed in her shop, with a nifty little sign about Candles by Nature to be added soon:

Proud Mama with my candles ;)

Close up view

My candles are in the upper right corner, underneath the adorable illustrations

I'm so psyched to have my stuff at American Craftsman, and I'm ready to get started on some new stuff to bring over soon. Autumn is fast approaching, and those great fall scents are calling to me!

Burn, Baby, Burn

So I recently decided to try out a new company for my supplies because the one I was using charged insane shipping fees. When it got to the point where the shipping was costing more than the items themselves, I figured it’s time to explore some new options. After much research I found a new company that has reasonable prices and much nicer shipping costs.

Now the hard part is to find the right wick from this new company. If you’ve made candles before, you can attest to the fact that finding the perfect wick can easily drive anyone insane. To be honest, it’s my least favorite aspect of making candles because it inevitably involves some failure when you try out a bunch of wicks and some of them just don’t seem to burn perfectly. On the other hand, when I do find the right wick, the crazy perfectionist in me is VERY happy and I do a little dance (much to my boyfriend’s embarrassment).

Okay, returning from my tangent, I’m now testing various wicks from this new company. Rather than burn a bunch of candles in my living room while I watch back-to-back Buffy episodes on Netflix, I realized that I might as well burn them at work and make the office smell nice. We’re just sitting at our desks all day anyway, right? At this moment myself, my boss and my co-worker are burning awesome lavender candles made with essential oils, so they truly do smell like the real thing. I’ve periodically been poking my head into their offices like a worried mother to see how they’re burning. After about 2 hours, it’s looking like I finally found my match, but I’m going to let them continue burning for awhile longer to be doubly sure.

I gotta say, this was a great idea of mine—not only do I get to be super efficient and test out wicks while I’m at work, but I also get to share this amazing lavender scent at the office, too. I think I’ll go ahead and give myself a pat on the back  ;)

Who I am and Why I'm Here

I originally got into candle-making because I wanted to make homemade, heartfelt gifts for my family and friends. I did a lot of research and knew immediately that I wanted to use soy wax rather than the non-environmentally-friendly alternatives such as paraffin. So I gathered supplies, and kind of just stumbled my way through the first trials. It took awhile before I got my homemade Christmas mug candles to my perfectionist standards, but when I finally completed them the sense of accomplishment was awesome.

After that, I started experimenting with candlesticks, hurricane candles, and container candles in things like teacups, recycled jars, candy dishes, etc. I quickly began accumulating an insane medley of candles that I couldn’t possibly use in my lifetime. So, in an effort to continue my craft without finding myself buried in unused candles, I ventured into selling my wares.

I’ve recently opened an Etsy shop and have sold at local craft fairs and farmer’s markets. My candles are also now being carried at a great shop in New Paltz, NY called American Craftsmen. To be honest, I was incredibly nervous when I first started selling my candles, but it’s turned out to be a really exciting and inspiring experience. For me, my favorite aspect of selling my candles is to hear the feedback from my customers. I can’t help but feel inspired when someone comes up to my booth, picks up a candle, sniffs it and says “This smells delicious!!!” Plus, it’s always nice to talk to people about how I make my candles, and why I have so much fun doing it.

That’s what I’m hoping to do here on my blog, as well. I would love for this to be yet another place for me to babble on with people about candle-making, crafting, and everything else that goes along with them. So please, join in the conversation…I’m always eager to talk to others about my passions and, of course, theirs too!