Getting Crafty with Candles

Several months ago, when I moved to Largo, I began surfing Facebook for things to do in the area.  One of the things I found was the Brocante Market.  It is a great place for finding vintage items of all types that have retained their charm or have been updated with more modern styles.  But if you're like me, this is also a great place to get ideas of cool things you can do to update what you already have in your home!  On our first trip to the Market, Michael and I spotted this beautiful piece:

Last month, Michael's parents asked him and I to visit "The Lester Family Home" to help de-clutter the home they've lived in for the past 30 years.  They are in the process of moving to the Largo area as well.  Something about getting older makes living in a warm climate make more sense.

Translation--they need my Type A personality to drill sergeant them up every morning and to help keep them on task and motivated to clean out the 30-years worth of junk-I mean treasures-that they have not used or needed in QUITE some time.  We took many, many, many truck loads to the recycling station, dump, and Goodwill.

But we did come across these beauties:

My mother-in-law spent her life as an artist.  Her medium was pottery.  She was commissioned to create this unique container by a fragrance entrepreneur.  He met her at an art show, paid her to create them, and then never came back for them.  So, almost 3,000 (yes, that is THOUSAND) of these votives have been sitting in her basement garage for years.  She was going to throw them out, but I asked if I could have them instead.

You see, back at the visit to the Brocante Market, I had spied a beautiful lavender plant.  I did not, however, want to pay the $14 they had it marked for and as a result, went on a multi statewide search for lavender seed or plants.  Unfortunately, most of the local nurseries in Florida and in Virginia where already stocked for winter plants and didn't have any lavender.  But I still had it in the back of my mind that I would find some lavender and use it to create homemade candles.

A few weeks ago, as I was leaving the office and stopped on a whim into Petal and Vine off of Indian Rocks Road and they had 2 lavender plants leftover from the summer season!  I purchased one and skipped off merrily home.  Before I left the parking lot, the store clerk came after me and gave me the remaining plant since it was the last one and they were likely not going to sell it.  SCORE!

Off I went to learn how to make lavender scented candles.  I Google Searched and found a great blog, Lavender Gardening, that was instrumental in making this process easy for me.  They even had links to other websites and blogs that provided even more information and tips for best practices of candle making.  Check them out if you're interested in easy candle making.

One of the first things I learned was that you don't need lavender plants for making lavender scented candles.  On the other hand, my home is painted a color that attracted many wasps, especially around the front door.  We'd spray them with wasp spray, remove the nests they had built, and still they returned!  Since placing the lavender plants outside my front door, the wasps haven't come back.  I can't prove that the lavender had any effect (and my husband would tell you it that the wasps left because of the fact that we removed a softball size nest from under the retaining wall pavers that were ALSO right next to the front door) but in my mind, it was all due to the lavender!

 I went to Michael's at Largo Mall and purchased 1 lbs. of soy candle wax, zinc core wax wicks, and lavender essential oil.

I did not use a thermometer, but I placed 4 cups of the wax into a glass bowl and heated it 30 seconds at a time until it was all melted and for one last 30 seconds for good measure.  I did not have a dropper to put the 8 drops that Sara Elliot suggested, so I guesstimated that 8 drops would be the equivalent of 2 cap fulls of the essential oil that I purchased.  This amount was perfect to create a candle that has a hint of lavender and does not overpower your senses.

I stirred in the oil and began to spoon the liquefied wax into each of the blue votives that I had made ready with the zinc core wicks before I heated the wax.  This was not time effective, but did the job of getting the wax into the containers.  Any excess wax was extremely easy to remove once it was cooled.  However, I'll have to figure another way to do it for bulk batches to come later.  The wax took about 3-4 hours to cool since these containers are quite small.  But here is the final product:

 

I will be giving these away to neighbors and coworkers as Christmas gifts.

 I created a little tag for them

 

 I made a base out of tissue paper

I placed them in a festive bag.

Then I tied  it up with holiday ribbon.

The holiday season only comes around once a year and I have THREE THOUSAND of these votives lying around...what to do?

Well, since Michael has scrap pallet wood from his wine rack and other woodworking crafts, I'll use that scrap pallet wood to make miniature crate boxes.  I'll line the bottom of the boxes with colored shredded paper and place the candles securely in the box.  I'll probably create a 'nicer' gift tag and get clear plastic to wrap around the box with neutral colored ribbon.  Then, I'll give the candles to my clients when they buy or sell a home with me as a way of wishing the "warmth of the candle and scent of lavender to calm and soothe their souls" as they make memories in their new home!