Candle Talk

I have a little homemaking habit that adds some cozy cheer to the winter months.  While I am soaking up autumn and celebrating Christmas, I squirrel away a few candles to brighten my home after the holidays are over.  

When the day is gray and cold, I light a candle...or two or three.  Truth be told, I often light a candle even when it is bright and sunny, but there is something very comforting about candlelight on a dreary day.  And a sweet or spicy aroma adds to the cheer.   

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My dear blog friend Deanna gave me this charming candle when we visited her family last October. Ooooo...it smelled so good through the cellophane wrapper, but I brought it home and tucked it into my candle/linen cabinet (much to Bekah's dismay) to save for January. I am glad that I did, because we have enjoyed its true hot chocolate-y aroma on these winter mornings.  In fact, we were inspired to create our own hot chocolate bar on the kitchen counter and placed this candle on the tray with all the fixings.  Mmmm...

(Deanna's friend Becky makes these lovely soy-based candles and sells them through her Etsy shop, Good Neighbors Candle Co.  Good stuff!)

I picked up this Better Homes and Gardens jar candle at Walmart last fall...for $5.00!  In the midst of the pumpkin and cranberry candles, I spotted this Gingerbread Spice scent that I thought would serve well for the winter months.  It does.  I placed it in a metal pan, surrounded it with some pine cones I pulled out of some old potpourri, and put it on the little table by the back door.  

Ahhhh..."Winter Spice" by Bath and Body Works is a gift from my parents.  B&BW candles are the bomb!  Sooo fragrant...burn so nicely...they even fragrance a room when they're not lit.  I put this one on one of my Friendly Village plates and set in on the kitchen counter.  

Another Bath and Body Works candle, this one is "Toffee" and is one of the ones I squirreled away for myself when I was Christmas shopping.  I could eat it.  I have this one in my living room, encircled by a winter berry candle ring, and sitting on a quilted table square made by my good (and talented) friend Jodi.

In the dining room is a candle that I did not have tucked away waiting for winter.  In fact, it came home with me yesterday.     

This is one of those "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" types of scenarios...but here goes.

I needed something on my dining room table, because I had put my pewter tureen (which has been sitting on the dining room table for years) on a shelf of the corner cupboard, because I got some new (bargain...yay!) pewter pieces, because Ron and I went antiquing on New Year's Eve, because we had some Christmas gift money.  (Follow that?)  So I "shopped the house," but didn't come up with anything that suited me for that spot.  After a week or so of pondering, I decided that some kind of candle with a glass hurricane would do the trick.

My criteria were rather narrow as I sought what I wanted.  In keeping with my colonial farmhouse look, the glass must not look "new." And the whole deal must not cost an arm and a leg.  Imagine my surprise when I found just what I was looking for in Target!  Now Target is one of my favorite stores, but I really did not expect to find an "old" looking hurricane there.  And on sale.   But there it was, with its wavy glass and old-fashioned good looks, and I was sold.  And the candle was half-price. It was meant to be.  ~grin~

This morning, I tweaked.  I got out a pewter tray and set the candle/hurricane on it.  I pulled this very inexpensive (Target Dollar Spot...love it!) berry wreath from my bedroom.  And there we have it...my new centerpiece.

What about you?  Do you tuck away any goodies for the winter months?