Archive for September, 2008
I don’t know about you, but I can’t believe school has started and Labor Day is just a few days off. That means before we know it we’ll be sitting down for a Thanksgiving feast and then focusing our attentions on the Christmas season.
I applaud those people that are done with their holiday shopping long before December arrives; it’s something I have never been able to accomplish. I’ve always been more of a last minute person.
One thing we’ve been able to accomplish is removing the stress and anxiety of buying gifts for what we call the “must do” group. I’m talking about teachers, bus drivers, the mail lady, neighbors, friends, assistants, helpers and on and on.
Not only have we taken the stress out of buying gifts for this group, we’ve developed a system that saves us a tremendous amount of money and time, and so can you.
Every October we buy a couple cases of scented jar candles and votive candles. We buy them at wholesale which saves us a huge amount of money and they are delivered right to our house, saving us time and more money on gas.
We’ll buy some small holiday gift bags when they’re on sale and some holiday colored tissue paper. Depending on whom the gift is for we will put a scented jar candle in a bag dressed up with tissue paper or we will place a few votive candles and an inexpensive (50 cent) votive holder in a gift bag. Either one makes a very attractive gift that smells great.
The jar candle gift bag easily represents a $25 to $35 gift and the votive gift bag a $10 to $15 gift. Over the last couple of years that we’ve have been doing this, we’ve gotten rave reviews from all recipients. In fact we often get calls from the recipients wanting to know where we got them so they can give them as gifts also.
If you want to know how much it costs us to put these gift bags together, contact me and I’ll be glad to let you know. You’ll be shocked.
When we order the candles, we mix up the scents so everyone gets something different. Everyone comments on how long the candles last and that they’re able to enjoy them long after the holiday passes. With the build up to the holiday lasting for months and then in a few hours time it’s over, it’s great to have that scented candle to enjoy for awhile.
The company we buy our scented jar candles and votive candles from is out of Pennsylvania. They use a natural renewable wax that doesn’t emit toxins when burned so we don’t have any concern about giving them to people who may not be able to burn paraffin wax candles because of respiratory problems. At least no one has ever complained and we see them burning them.
It’s a great way to save time and money on your holiday shopping this year. You can purchase the candles and other products at deep wholesale prices by joining the companies “Candle of the Month” program which costs about $1.50 a day. With the Candle of the Month” program you will receive:
1- 16oz. scented jar candle
1 Dozen scented votive candles, and
1- Bar gourmet bath soap
OR
You can receive 2 – 16oz. jar candles and 1 – bar gourmet soap.
Even though you can cancel your program at any time, we find that people stay with it and either use the candles themselves or split them every month with a friend or two. They know it’s the cheapest way to have one of the best candles on the market.
For those that don’t want to get involved with the “Candle of the Month” program, the company has an “Associate Program” which allows you to purchase products at 30% above the deep wholesale prices. There is no charge to join the “Associate Program” and you can purchase what you want when you want. Still a great way to save money.
Either way you’re giving a quality gift that lasts and everyone loves, and most importantly, saving a great deal of time and money. Happy Holidays.
Many scented jar candle consumers are throwing away their paraffin wax candles and opting for soy or natural wax candles, and for good reasons.
People around the world are becoming ever more conscious with the overdue movement of “Going Green” Individuals and families alike are doing their part, no matter how big or small, to help ease pollution, which some say will eventually cause the destruction of our planet.
Whether it’s recycling our waste, using biodegradable products or building “Green Homes” people are showing concern not only for the health of the planet but also for personal and family health.
It’s very difficult, if not impossible for individuals to have a direct impact on big business and their manufacturing practices, which in some cases are still operating in a 19th century mode, but people are beginning to realize they can have an impact on the environment by painlessly changing their living habits.
Developing a more eco-friendly lifestyle for many, has involved a very simple and painless change that drastically improves the quality of air they breathe in their own homes. That simple and painless change is a matter of switching from paraffin wax scented jar candles to natural wax scented jar candles.
Scented jar candles and votives made from natural wax produce a negligible amount of soot when burned and do not produce the toxins found in paraffin wax candles.
Until the late ‘90s’ I worked for a wholesale supply house and we sold a tremendous amount of candles, in every size, shape, and color you can imagine. One of our candle customers was a privately owned upscale restaurant in a very artsy little town, about an hour outside NYC. Local artists would hang their paintings and drawings in the restaurant which created a unique décor, as well as giving the artists some great exposure. The restaurant was known for using candles everywhere, they were actually the main source for light, and it create a very relaxing and charming atmosphere.
One winter they closed for renovations, mainly cleaning and repainting the interior, and discovered that not only was the entire interior, from ceiling to floor and everything in between, covered with soot from the candles over the years, but also that the paintings and drawings on the walls would have to go through a very expensive procedure to clean the soot from them.
An expensive lesson learned, but the interior and the art work can be cleaned, I have to wonder about the health of the patrons breathing the toxins and soot from the candles.
I moved south just after that, so I’m not sure if they burn candles anymore, however the ambiance of the restaurant wouldn’t be the same without them so I would guess and hope they found an alternative with natural wax candles.
Although most of the major candle companies continue to use paraffin wax for their candles, as well as the huge number of candles imported from other countries, smaller less known companies are popping up all over, producing eco-friendly natural wax candles and capitalizing on the steady growth in the candle industry.
So finding quality natural wax scented jar candles and votives is not hard and it is definitely one of those simple, painless changes we can make in our lives that will contribute to the health of our family and our planet.
We’ve always enjoyed decorating our home in what I guess you would call country style. You know the style that has things everywhere you look. We’ve spent many years collecting baskets, prints and wall art
, decoys, and many other items to decorate our home, and we enjoy the cozy, homey feeling it gives us.
What we’re able to do now is change our decorations around to fit the seasons. It gives an ever changing look to our home which is nice for us. We’ve had people tell us our home could be a gift store because of all the decorations we have.
One thing we’ve always tried to do is buy only items that hold their value or even increase in value. It’s easy to go crazy buying junk everywhere you go, but all you end up with is a pile of junk representing a lot of wasted money.
We also use clustered votive candles to create soft accent light which gives a warm feeling to our rooms and also scent simmer pots which give a background night light type look. The scents from the candles are very relaxing and are easy to change to enhance the seasons.
Our children like to decorate their own rooms but to them it means changing room colors and wall decorations to fit their changing interests. To accommodate everyone, we choose fairly neutral colors for their walls and then let them choose prints and posters to hang.
There’s no sense hanging Bob Timberlake paintings in their rooms when they’re interests change form baseball to football to basketball and from movies to horses to rainbows. Allowing them to choose their décor gives them a sense of accomplishment and pride and believe it or not they actually take better care of their rooms.
We’ve found a great place for them to choose prints and posters to match their interests. They have thousands of choices and are inexpensive so it allows us to let them explore their interests.
With literally tens of thousands of prints, posters and wall art in every imaginable category and prices to fit every range, we have found many items for our own decorating needs as well as gifts.
If you’re decorating your first apartment, trying to make a cold dorm room more like home, dressing up the office or looking for artwork for your home, chances are you’ll find what you’re looking for HERE.
Once the house is feeling like a home, don’t forget the scents to sooth the soul!
