Recycled Weddings

After the beautiful summer day we experienced yesterday, I woke at 7 this morning to hear rain thundering on the roof and wind howling round the windows.  Well that was a short-lived summer wasn't it!  Still, it gave me a good reason to batten down the hatches, stay in and make something different.

Er, no I didn't make used candles; they were given to me by my friend Wendy, who runs a local business preparing rooms for wedding receptions, sometimes with the help of Pea.  The candles are placed in huge glass 'gold fish' bowls and afterwards are thrown away.  As you can see, they are hardly used.  I highly doubt these candles were made from eco-friendly soy wax, so I didn't want to re-make them into new candles as I am trying to build my business on natural products but I really wanted to do something with them.

Then I had an idea.  I could re-use them, but not as candles.  If I turned them into drawer and cupboard scenters, they would never be burned and at the same time I would be recycling a product that would usually become land-fill fodder.  A good compromise I feel.

I gathered a few choice goodies; orange slices and calendula petals...

And a mix of dried flowers and set about hacking the candles to bits.  They were really hard but I soon got into the swing of it and had them melting before too long.

As the wind blew and the radio played some really good stuff from 1984 I was in my element adding scent, a tiny drop of colour and dried botanicals.  The kitchen was filled with comforting smells and flowers scattered across my work top.

I wasn't too sure about the results at first..

But the children were so thrilled and excited by them; H1 even said 'Oh, cool!' but that was because he thought they were cupcakes at first!  Then he realised they weren't edible and said 'Oh cool!' which was even better.

I realise now that the fruity ones don't have a very strong scent, which you would need if you want to make your knicker drawer smell nice, so I will give these away and start again.

They will all be available on my all-new Misi shop before the weekend.  Did I tell you about that?  No?  Oh, well then..About a week ago my sis-in-law text me to tell me about an on-line market place for British crafters and artisans to sell their makes.  As you know I already have and Etsy shop, but to say that it has been a little quiet is an under-statement.  I feel it is too big for me.  I am lost amongst the thousands of other people all selling similar things.  It is a super market and I would feel happier selling in a corner shop.  Misi is the corner shop.  I listed a few of my candles and had about 40 hits in moments.  Yesterday I listed a few more and had 49 hits on one candle in less that 5 minutes!  Wow!  I didn't achieve that on Etsy in 3 months.  Most encouraging.  I will be closing my Etsy shop next month and concentrating on Misi and possibly Folksy too.

I will try to get a link on this blog soon, so you can hop over there easily and quickly.  I will be adding my soaps to my shop as they become ready and any other little thing I rustle up in my cosy kitchen over the weeks and months to come.

A clue!

Have a lovely day, where ever you are and what ever you do and thank you for reading. xxx