Candle Therapy

I think making candles is my therapy. Baking is also a great therapy for me as well as gardening but I think, no I’m quite certain, that crafting these bakery candles has become something I actually do when the world starts spinning too fast.

I mentioned in my last post that I’ve been dealing with a few things. One of those things (on a somewhat smaller scale compared to the others) is that my washer and dryer both went out. I’m not sure if that’s something that the average person would just blow off but I’m talking about the only washer and dryer for a family of 12! If you could only see my laundry room, you probably wouldn’t know whether to shriek or burst into tears. I’m on a strict laundry schedule folks. I have to wash a minimum of four loads of laundry daily or the laundry monster is taking over. It sort of makes me wonder why we all don’t go back to having a select few items to wear, one or two items for every occasion in similar colors, to reduce the laundry loads! That’ll never happen.

That brings me back to candle therapy. I’m going to spend this afternoon making my Valentine’s Day candles and wax tarts. I’m hoping that I can shift some of that frustration into creating some really pieces to put up on Etsy.  On a somewhat brighter note, I’ve managed to somehow come up with a few creations that sell really nicely during these times of frustration when I’ve had candle therapy. I’m hoping that happens again! So the afternoon begins and I’m off to look at the laundry one more time so that I can get my creative juices flowing. Is that odd to torture yourself to become creative?

New Year New Mission

Happy New Year everyone! Since my last post, I’ve had quite a time dealing with a number of setbacks but I’m thankful to have the opportunity to blog again. It’s amazing how when we experience some of life’s challenges we are often given the gift of hind sight. I look at it as a gift because my challenges have many times been the boost that I’ve needed to take things to a new level. In this case, my newest challenges are inspiring me to make this year a more prosperous one.

That brings me to my business mission. I had to ask myself several times last year what in the world I was doing. I found myself doing things that I absolutely didn’t want to do, things that made my job harder, and serving customers that I didn’t want to serve. In  my honest opinion, those things that I didn’t want to do resulted in my achieving things I didn’t want to achieve. This year my focus will be more on the things that I want to achieve and I’ve revised my business mission statement a bit to reflect that.

Everything Dawn Bakery Candle Treats’ Mission is to provide its customers with beautifully handmade scented bakery replicas that look good enough to eat!

So whether my products be jar candles, wax dipped toilet paper, wax tarts, scented ornies or…whatever, my products will likely fall under this mission statement. My customers must be customers who want beautifully handmade items and must therefore be willing to pay for beautifully handmade items. (There are few exceptions that I will make to this rule but only because I am considering a separate venue for these items.)

Hopefully this new focus will be the beginning to a great start for a great new year. Have you thought about your mission for 2014?

Everything Dawn Secret Santa Giveaway

Just in time for the Christmas holiday, here is another giveaway. This time I’ve taken a box and I’ve created a wonderfully fragrant gift for our winner. I’m not saying what’s inside but I thought it would be fun while a bit interesting to give hints next week about what’s in it. I’ll start on Monday with the first hint and give a hint each day.

Here’s how you can enter. Just follow this link and it’ll take you over to our Facebook Page. There you’ll have a number of things you can do to enter. Of course, the more entries, the more points, the more chances to win. You can enter each day up until the 21st of December. I decided this time to give special perks to my customers who enter. Although purchasing is not necessary to enter, my dear customers will receive 10 entries for a purchase with 10 additional entries for every dollar spent in our shop! Winners will be randomly selected by Rafflecopter, which is good because that feature just makes it easier than counting thousands of entries.

Also, if you want to tell others about our giveaway, please share this link: http://bit.ly/16eBtYR

 

A Working Progress

Organization is not my strong suit. It is; however, something I long for. Last year I promised myself that I’d be more organized, only to find that I’m probably less organized this year than I was last. This is not something that I happily share because it’s something that I’ve wanted to do for so long but every attempt seems to be more of a struggle.

In my own idealism, I’d be this wonderfully tempered person, the kind of person who whistles while she works happily on the business of her home. I’d like to have my duster out busting those bunnies to the happy harmonies of  Christmas Cheers by Straight No Chaser, (very entertaining). I’d have my children schooled by noon, my dinner done by five (a nice sit down meal with the family) and put about five hours per day into my shops. I probably should add that my idealistic me would have plenty of time to spend doing things my children want to do and still have the exuberance to earnestly smile at my husband because the day has been so sunny.

Well that’s NOT what my days are like. So realistically I’m wearing many hats and sometimes my organization crumbles. I read books like Welcome Home by Emilie Barnes and I’m encouraged enough to try again to make something of organizational structure. I look at the faces of my children and I’m inspired to give them a promising classical education while teaching them that they CAN be successful in unconventional ways. I suppose the point is that I do this every day to keep from feeling the sting of failure when I don’t get something done that I would have liked to. My days are discombobulated sometimes but I’m a working progress who can’t give up on the values I have or those that the ones I love have placed in me. That’s what’s most important to me, and that’s what I must constantly keep in the forefront of my mind.

I AM a working progress, taking little steps to achieve great results with as little stress as possible.

Treasury Tuesday: Princesses Morning

This Treasury Tuesday I’m a little late in the game. We’ve had such busy week getting over all the cooking from Thanksgiving and then straight into prepping the shops for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I’m loving all these sales but it’s been super busy trying to keep up!

So today I’m including a sweet treasury that has so many nice things that ladies love. It’s glam and delicate all at the same time. This one was curated by Ausra Zemaitiene and is packed with things that the girly girl in your life will love this holiday. Check out Ausra’s treasury here.

Other gift treasuries:

Walnut Fig Gingerbread Cranberry (Yum!)

Winter Wonderland

Love Chocolate

https://www.etsy.com/treasury/MjkwMzYxODB8MjcyMjc5OTY4MQ/princesses-morning

Wax Dipped Toilet Paper A Quick DIY

Wax dipped toilet paper. Easy to do at home. Take your favorite color dollar store candle and melt it. Add some scent (or not), dip away until the roll is completely covered and looks the way you’d like it. This one took several dunks. Then let it cool to hardness and embellish. Voila!

Treasury Tuesday -Something in the Winter Air

Today’s treasury I’d like to share is called “Something in the Winter Air.” It’s right here.  I have to be honest, I pretty much favorited every single item in this treasury. It’s cheerful and it actually made me feel that sense of Christmas is coming. Love this one. Check it out for yourself. These treasuries are cool ideas for decor and Christmas gifts.

Another is my own Cookies for Santa treasury. I’ve just finished my own cookies for Santa candle set, and I thought this treasury was a great way to express that theme. Let me know what you think of it. Oh! And check out my own cookies for Santa candle set right here.

Cookies for Santa on Etsy

Dunkin’ Bears

Today I just started a new line of wax dipped stuffies for our booth. My children think I’m killing the teddy bears over here. One of my daughters crocheted the scarf for this one (as she works to complete her own line of infinity scarves). I’m excited about these bears. They’re so cute and they smell sooo good! Here’s one I just did. I’ve named her Miss Smelly Buns.

Wax Dipped Teddy Bear in Cinnamon Bun Scent

What do you think? I’ve grunged her up in cinnamon and scented her in cinnamon bun fragrance. The cinnamon bun she’s carrying is hand sewn, completely removeable and also scented in cinnamon bun. I’m doing about 15 of these and listing them in the store, each will have its own character. I’ve even sewn clothes for them! This is so much fun I think I’m addicted to teddy bear dunking!

Well please do let me know what you think of her. I’d like to get your feedback before I send her off in her proper packaging. Happy Hump Day!

Gift Ideas Under $50

This week’s Treasury Tuesday is gift ideas under $50. Take a look at some beautiful handmade and vintage items that make unique and special gifts that are like no other and they’re all under $50!

Happy treasuring!

When You Can’t Do Everything

I’ve been mixing away Christmas candles for an upcoming Christmas Open House an a local antique mall where we’ve been renting a booth. I wanted to have a ice snow theme with the pale blues, silver and creams but the theme isn’t really working in the scope of what I’m creating to place on the booth. So, of course, I’m changing the theme altogether. Needless to say, this is taking a lot more work than I originally anticipated. Instead of blues and creams I’m looking at reds, whites, and greens, you know, the traditional Christmas colors. Man I wanted to do something different!

Rather than beat myself up, I figure I’ll just keep pressing on with this traditional thing and grab some baskets to make this thing as Christmasy as I can. So now tonight my 15 year old is making dinner (a baked fish dinner might I add) and I’m going to be engrossed in candle making to get these wonderful shelves stocked for the open house.

Meanwhile, I had to decline a different event happening tomorrow at an almost local elementary school. I hated to do it and I really tried to squeeze it in but it was just too difficult to do both. Alongside the matter of having already paid for the booth and needing to get my money’s worth this month, I sadly declined the elementary school. Sometimes it’s hard to face that fact that I can’t do everything.

On a brighter note, I was able to donate quite a few items to the school that I shipped off this morning. I packaged up a cherry pie candle, a pumpkin pie candle, cinnamon stick wax tarts, an apple pie candle, a buttered rum jar candle, and a couple of other freshly made items and placed them in a medium sized priority box. I was relieved to see them picked up by the postal carrier. I feel a little better now. I think a donation beats not being there, doesn’t it?

Well, that’s my day! Please, if you have a moment, please sign up for the giveaway we’re doing over on our Facebook page. It’s filled with Everything Dawn Christmas candles: cupcake candles, ornaments, and the other good smells!