Not just another fall scent.

this is a fragrance that's so much more than just fall. It's pomegranate noir and it's sexy and heady, with a flirty sweetness.

Fall wedding roses

Fall wedding roses.

What does a fall festival smell like?

What's your ideal fall fragrance?  Apples and citrus are both pretty big autumnal scents, with mix that with the headiness of late summer blooming roses and clove buds and it's like walking through your favorite fall festival, where artisans gather to sell their best preserves.  It doesn't get more fall than that!

Thinking about Thanksgiving centerpeices

We know Thanksgiving is still a wee bit of a ways off, but we couldn't help feeling some centerpiece vibes from these ivory/white pumpkin candles. 


and....it's time to introduce our new babies....

Cute as a button ivory/white floating pumpkin candles.  Perfect for a wedding or fall or just cuz their addoribalz.

Does your home smell like a craft store?

In the Fall?  Mine does and its all thanks to this Autumn Harvest wax melt.  Oh my goodness it's like walking through the doors of your favorite craft store during fall and you know, that scent....  It has all those appointed autumnal fragrances wrapped up in to one wax melt.

Sunflower Wedding Ideas

Sunflowers are so bright and cheery why wouldn't you want to add them to your special day.  Include some in a wedding in a wedding bouquet or bring them into a table centerpiece.

Is Apples & Oak the prefect end of summer scent?

We think so.  Or better yet, it's the perfect transition scent. Like when you're done with all those baja, poolside & mocktail summer aromas, but you're not quite ready to pump a pumpkin spice fragrance through out your home.  It's has those delicious soft apple scents mixed with warm woody oak moss.


Yeah, Apples & Oak wax melts are a perfect scent to have on hand for the end of summer.

Apple Wedding Candles

Apples fit in to a number of fall wedding themes, from a rustic barn inspired outdoor soirée to a whimsical Snow White inspired event.



Candle packaging, creating an enjoyable experience

Happy Monday candle friends.  I want to share with you something that's been consuming not only my thoughts the last few months but my office as well.   As I sit here typing away I'm being tickled by the crinkle paper thats under foot and I have a mess of stickers, washi tape, notes cards, tags and more bits and bobs surrounding me..   I'm still trying to figure out what to do with it all, but loving every minute of it!

Its product packaging and its a whole new adventure for me.

When I changed from vendor wholesaling to offering wholesale priced candles direct to the public I never bothered to change how I packaged or shipped them.   To be honest, I never gave it any thought at all.  I simply did the same thing I did for vendors but on a smaller scale and then I got stuck in the same ole same ole...you know what I mean right?  When you do something so much you don't realize there's another way, a better way, a newer way.  I was so tunnel blind!! and a bit embarrassed to admit that I didn't even know it was a "thing"

In November I started making little changes here and there, offering bits of flair for the holidays with tags and labels, personalized packaging not only for the candles themselves but shipping cartons too.

With the miracle that is a Silhouette Cameo a color printer and a craft store a block away with loads of aisles full of embossing powders and stamps and paper galore, I've been able to make most of my own packaging bits.   The only down side, if you could call it one, because it's been loads of fun....is that it sorta feels like a full time job all it's own and my planner has more scheduling for label making than it does pouring wax!

I've been popping in to youtube to see how other crafters ship their creations and they are full of amazing ideas on how to make packaging pop.  A general search will reward you with the bests ones and all the advise you need.

Here's what I learned.

** Its all about the unboxing experience (make it special)
**  give your customers more than what they are expecting.
** Under-promise and over deliver.
** branding is everything

With all of this in mind, I have a load of work ahead of me and a bit of restructuring to get moving on.

HELLO 2018

Good morning candle friends.  I hope everyone had a lovely New Year!  Thought I'd pop in to share something that I've been obsessed with the past few months or so. 

Creating color palettes!

Its a great way to catch a glimpse of the overall look that I want to achieve and it all starts with the tiniest single drop of dye in soy wax.  While I love every color color schemes I've created for Valentines Day I must say that my favorites are the ever traditional reds and pinks.

I've been in a happy valentine's day mood all morning, pouring hearts and roses and fragrances that make my home smell like a perfumery.

The Christmas rush, candle making ombre christmas trees and Valentines?

Hello candle friends.  I hope you're having a wonderful December. 

Our lights are finally up outside and the tree is trimmed.  Christmas shopping is nearly done, it just wouldn't be the holidays with out last minute gift buying, right?  Although to be fair I did most of the shopping from the couch with a lot of help from amazon.

The Christmas season is a sneaky one at times, isn't it?  Once Halloween is over I find myself sitting down to a turkey dinner, I no more than clear the dishes away from that and we're wading through a sea of wrapping paper and ribbons.

All my fun christmas candle project lists lay buried and forgotten under layers of invoices, which are vastly more important.  I did get at a few sets of green ombre christmas trees made before the rush came in swinging, but only to give out as gifts. Perhaps next year I'll have them available on the sites.

In the all too strange world of retail, all the holiday candle molds are neatly stored away till next year and my pour tables are being consumed by hearts and cupids and pinks. Pink EVERYWHERE! Because if it doesn't get made now there won't be time for Valentine's Day shipping.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.

ps.  did I mention that I have finally got my instagram account back.  It had been lost to the internet gods for a few years but it's back and I'm attempting to use it more.

Woodland mushroom candles

I love Fridays..not that I have anything against the other days of the week but when Friday morning commences my rejuvenation begins too.

Fridays are filled long coffee breaks while I mull over what to work on for the next week. Its also the day where I do a bit of tidying up, need to make room for new messes!

Sometimes ideas form while I'm cleaning up the weeks clutter.  Like these woodland mushroom candles. I've had the mold for a while and I originally only poured them in beeswax but they never seemed all that interesting, until a bit of scrap wax accidentally blended in to some soy wax I was working with.  I love when oops turn out to be pretty surprises. 

Glowing Eyes Skull Candle

Happy Friday the 13th candle friends.  Does anyone know why Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day?  After a quick net search I'm still unclear on what makes this superstitious date combination frightening.

anyway...

I spent a few months trying to make a bleeding skull candle; you know the ones right, the skull that has a black outer shell of wax and the inside is a deep blood red and as it burns the waxy blood drips over the skull. Gross but so cool looking and I just had to try my hand at making some!

It was a head banging candle making experience full of filthy words and curses.

1.  It is very difficult to get a thin enough black shell so that the red interior wax doesn't show through causing the black wax to take on a purple tinge.
2. As my tests burned, the black wax mixed with the red and dribbled grayish purple down the candle
3.  If it dripped at all.
4.  I changed wick placement so often that one of my skull molds looks like Pin Head now.

I decided to shelve the whole project back in August, since I wasn't coming close to the effect I wanted..

But as I scrolling through photos on my phone this afternoon something caught my eye.   Sure, I didn't get that awesome drippy blood but I did get a pretty cool effect that was totally on accident and I didn't even notice it at the time. 

As much as I like the glowing red eyes I do really want a drippy blood candle.  If anyone has had success or has any helpful advise or tips, please share.   It's definitely a project I'll return too in the future so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Have a wonderful day.

Halloween Candles, Witches Cauldrons

Since I'm a little sleepy I'll quickly post an oldie but goodie.

Witches Cauldron Candle.  I changed these up a bit this year.  They're still poured in that gorgeous deep black color but in a beeswax blend with a soy blend of purple bubbling witches goop.

31 Days of Halloween Candles, Zombie Brains in a Jar

Happy October candle friends! 

I've have been wanting to share these Zombie Brain candles on the blog for months!  I made them in back in August and I'm so excited that I finally get to share them with you.

Since I don't know what Zombie Brains actually smell like, probably something really gross....I scented them in a fresh cotton with a hint of fall spice.

Hello Autumn

I know what you're thinking, that's a very summery looking candle.  With it's pineappley shape and pool blue hues it certainly doesn't scream, Welcome to a new FALL season!

I've been pouring fall candles for several months now and as much as I have a fondness for the warm autumnal palette I needed a serious break from it and from the headache inducing fall fragrances!  Does anyone else think fall fragrances are just too strong? Too spicy?   If you have any suggestions or favorites that aren't the typical fall scents, I'd love to hear about them.

My home has smelled like a perpetual pumpkin spiced bakery, even my neighbor came over to see what I've been up to because she can smell it from her house and when we left on a 5 day holiday at the begging of Sept the aroma traveled with us AND greeted us upon our return.

So I decided to play around with a new dipping technique and I've been wanting to test out my pineapple mold that I made few months back and never had a chance to pour.  The technique is amazing and the gold dip is more lustrous than I thought possible to achieve with a wax alone.  In the past I've had to over dip in gloss or add glitter to make it sparkle and shine.  The next steps are wick sizing and getting a burn from it, that dip is super thick and heavily concentrated with dyes so I definitely have my work cut out for me.

Death Stars for Christmas

Hi candle friends.  Yes, I know it's way to soon to be thinking about the holidays...or is it?

I've spent a lot of my August gearing up for the season and honestly that's about 3 months behind where I should have been...but I was enjoying my summer so much the last thing I wanted to think about or spend anytime on was Christmas!

So August first hit and I literally had to force myself to sit at my dusty desk and write out a list of what I should offer this year for Christmas.

I started the list with molds that I've bought or made and never used.  For one reason or another I have a ton of really cool designs that have never seen the light of day, or better put, poured with wax.

This Star Wars candle is one of them.  I picked this mold up from Amazon of all places and in the drawer it went where it was properly ignored for close to THREE years!

Acrylic candle molds

When you need to have a better visual of what you're creating, clear candle molds help tremendously.  Now that the heat is settling somewhat I think it's time to get them out have a go.  I have several techniques I want to try my hand at, like layering with designs, marbling, shells and finishes.

Wish me luck, some of these I have never done before plus I haven't used a plastic mold in 10 years, I hope the learning curve is short one!

Eiffel Tower candle revisited

Hi candle lovers, thought I'd share what I've been up to this past week. Besides getting ready for the fall season which I'll share later.   I've been pouring some old friends in new ways and testing out a few different types of finishes.

Palm wax has rejuvenated my creative side.  I am amazed every time I pull a candle from a mold.  Ok, almost every time, there are some pieces that it detracts from the candle too much...but certainly not when it came to the Eiffel Tower candle.

And it's not just new waxes I've been pouring but new colors too.  I've had a lot black wax in the melters since Halloween stock is top priority right now so I decided to pour an Eiffel Tower in black as well, but it looked so bland and boring I had to find a way to spruce it up.  And so the oil rubbed bronze look was born.   

Have a great weekend. 

Tiki bars, tiki rooms and Tiki Candles

Who knew tikis were all the rage!  Seriously, in preparation for getting my tiki candles out I was looking up ways to display them, since the bulk of the candles I make are for weddings and reception decor I kept returning to boho beachy weddings but in my searches I found a whole amazing subculture of tiki rooms and tiki bars. Personal oasis' decked out in dream like jungle decor.  With exotic wood fixtures, bamboo furniture, grass skirts and palm trees.

It was a long hard road making these Tiki Candles.  I was scheduled to have these out at the begging of May for the summer season, palm wax turn out to be more difficult to work with than I ever thought it would be.  But the results are totally worth it!
Scented in tropical tuberose and mango beechwood and let me tell ya.  They smell divine!