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Showing posts with label Candles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Candles. Show all posts

3.20.2014

A Visit to Bath Bar

Confession:  This post was supposed to go up last month.  In fact, I’ve actually had this post ready to post for a few weeks now, but for some reason I couldn’t muster up the motivation to do a final edit on it and press post.   What’s that about?  

Things have been a little quiet here on Granny Girls for a bit.  Life lately has been swamped with a healthy dose of changes, a new job, press for a new show, side projects and anything else you can file under “Makes Me Overwhelmed.”  I’m the first to admit that I’m not good with change.  And I’m also not good at managing my time wisely (aka I tend to overload my plate with way too many commitments, exhaust myself trying to “do it all,” then throw my hands up in the air in defeat and not finish any of them).  It’s a Classic Crew syndrome, as I like to call it.  All joking aside, it frustrates me to no end because it’s a repeated pattern that I always seem to battle.   

So here I am a month late on posting this, but still doing it.  So that’s something.

Last month Amber & I were invited to check out a cute shop called Bath Bar in Hermosa Beach.  Side note: If you live in Los Angeles but hate driving to Santa Monica and dealing with the crowds, I highly recommend checking out this adorable little beach town.

Created & owned by Kristina Vogel, Bath Bar is a place where you can create your own custom fragrance (with plenty of help from their excellently scent-trained staff) and then add it to a wide range of bath products from lotions to perfumes to body washes and so much more. 

Obviously Amber & I jumped at the opportunity to make our own personal scents. 

After drooling over the decor in the shop (hello adorable couch), Kristina and her awesome associate Kelsey helped us create our own fragrances.  


As you can see, Bath Bar offers a HUGE range of scents from floral to fruity to woodsy.  It was a bit intimidating to choose from their giant selection of scented essential oils but Kristina & Kelsey were extremely knowledgable and helped guide us through the process.  

We each started with one scent that we knew we loved.  I chose Egyptian Musk & Amber chose Black Current.  From there, the girls showed us scents that paired well with our base scent to compliment and balance it out.  After much humming and hawing, Amber & I finally settled on our custom scent cocktail. 





Mine: Egyptian Musk, Vanilla and White Patchouli Flower
Amber’s: Coconut, Black Current, China Musk & China Rain

After you create your signature scent, you can choose what product you want to get with your scent whether it be a body lotion, a body wash, bath salts or hair butter.  We both decided on a a roll-on perfume and Kristina whipped it up right in front of us!


Added bonus, Bath Bar’s products contain biodegradable, natural and organic ingredients, have no parabens and are free of cruelty testing.

Kristina was an absolute delight to meet.  Her passion for what she does is so apparent from the details in her shop to her personal care for her customers.  

Also, Kelsey has an amazing line of candles that are sold at Bath Bar called Piece by Paz.  They are made from recycled wine bottles and smell AMAZING!  Naturally I had to buy one.  I chose Bad Habit, a mix of “sweet tobacco, creamy vanilla and crisp white tea.” 



We had so much fun learning about scents and meeting Kristina and Kelsey.  If you are ever in the Hermosa Beach area you should definitely check them out.  They also host parties in their space where everyone gets to make their own scented bath product.  And if you aren’t in Southern California, you can buy their products online here


And thanks for being cool with my absence around here.  


12.11.2013

Doily & Glitter Candle Holders



It's another Mason jar craft!  That's because we made both these and the "Cookie Mix in a Jar" on the same day and then got too busy to separate them with a recipe post, so instead it's a jar-stravaganza!  (Yeah, that's not even clever. I'm writing this past my bedtime so forgive me).  All hilarity aside, we think these candle holders turned out pretty gorgeous.  We made these because we had seen something similar on Pinterest and we both wanted to decorate our houses with them - thus, a blog post was born.  These are sparkly and wintery and pretty festive but they could also be considered "elegant" and "vintage" and be left out all year.  And speaking of left out - definitely leave out the real candles when using these lovlies because they are filled with paper and things that can catch on fire.  Battery operated tealights only, Granny.    

Supplies


For the Doily Jar:
  • Ball Mason Pint Jars (16 oz. wide mouth) 
  • Mod Podge
  • A medium sized paintbrush
  • Parchment Paper
  • Paper doilies (we used these, which we got at JoAnn's, but you can use any style)
  • Battery operated tealights

For the Glitter Jar:
  • Ball Mason Pint Jars (16 oz. regular mouth)
  • Mod Podge
  • A medium sized paint brush
  • Glitter (for ours we used a snow-like clear glitter)
  • Battery operated tealights

Directions


For the Doily Jar:

1.  Cut out a (rectangular) piece of parchment paper that fits inside your wide-mouth jar.

2.  Collage said piece of paper with cut-up paper doilies.  Stick them on with Mod Podge. (For ours we cut up these giant doilies and glued them on in strips - but you can use any shape/size doilies you want, just cut them to fit the parchment paper).

3.  Paint the inside of your jar with a thin layer of Mod Podge and press your doily-paper in to stick.

4.  Let dry & add battery operated tealight.

For the Glitter Jar: 

1.  Paint the inside of your jar with a thin layer of Mod Podge.

2.  Dump a whole bunch of glitter into the jar, replace the lid and shake.

3.  Once the inside is well coated with glitter, pour out the excess onto a piece of paper and funnel it back into your glitter container.

4.  Let dry & add battery operated tealight.




Also, we have a winner of our November Photo-A-Day Challenge.  Congratulations to Kim Ralls!  We will be contacting you to get your address so we can mail you your prize.




12.06.2013

Homemade Mason Jar Candles


If you've been following our blog you know that one of our first craft posts was our Vintage Teacup Candles.  We loved making them so much (and they were so easy!) that we decided another candle craft was in order.  This time we used some of our favorite Heritage Collection Blue Mason Jars that were released this year in celebration of the Ball Jar's 100th anniversary.  (You may recognize these candles from our very first Granny Girls' Giveaway!).

These candles also make amazing gifts.  Just dress them up with some twine, fabric & a pretty tag and you have the most thoughtful, handmade stocking stuffer.  Wax on!


Supplies

Directions


1.  Glue your wick down to the bottom center of your jar using a wick sticker.

2.  To make sure the wick stays centered when you pour in the wax, take two skewers and wedge the wick in between the sticks, tying elastic bands on each side. 



3.  Now that your jars are prepared, it’s time to melt the wax.  Depending on how many candles you want to make, weigh out the appropriate amount of wax.  We used 4 pounds of soy wax and that made about 5 mason jar candles (or just eyeball it - you can always melt more or save any extra wax for later).

4.  Put the measured wax into your heat-safe candle pitcher and place on burner.  Keep the temperature low so as not to burn/catch anything on fire.

5.  Stir the wax with a wooden spoon until it has fully melted.  Now you can add your fragrance/essential oil.  The amount you add depends on the variety of wax and fragrance you are using (some waxes can hold more fragrance than others).  Check your bag of wax for directions, otherwise a general rule is 1 oz. of synthetic fragrance per lb. of wax.  For essential oils you may have to add a little more. 

6.  Let the wax cool in the pitcher a little until it reaches the consistency of a Slurpee.  This step is important because it prevents holes/air bubbles from forming in your candles when the wax hardens.  

7.  Make sure your mason jars are on a safe spot on your countertop where they can sit undisturbed for about 24 hours.  Carefully pour the wax into your jars & center the wicks if needed.



8.  Let the wax set until solid, usually overnight.  (The wax may look like it's set but it's best wait 24 hours before you light them for the first time).

10.  Cut the wicks to about 1/2 an inch.  Your pretty candles are now ready for gifting or enjoying!



Happy Crafty Holidays!






10.22.2013

Teacup Candles

We had seen these lovely candles floating around Pinterest and in our favorite overpriced store and thought they were so beautiful that we would try and make them ourselves. Neither of us had ever made candles before so it initially seemed a little daunting, but once we were actually doing it we both couldn't believe how easy it was!  We ordered all of our supplies on Amazon (most craft stores also carry candle-making supplies) and made them one morning over a relaxing cup of tea (note: don't confuse actual tea with wax-filled teacup).  We're both so thrilled with how they turned out and can't wait to give our beautiful homemade candles as gifts!


You will need:


  • Teacups (collect vintage ones from thrift shops or order a set off of Amazon like we did)
  • Wax Flakes (we chose natural soy wax because it's clean burning & this 10lb. bag was a great deal)
  • Wicks (these are the ones we used)
  • A Candlemaking Pitcher (you could also use a regular stove pot but this is so much easier because you don't have to worry about cleaning the leftover wax out afterwards).
  • A Wooden Spoon
  • Some wooden skewers (to make "wick holders" that will hold the wicks upright)
  • Some rubber bands
  • A taper candle or some Wick Stickers (wick stickers recommended)
  • An essential oil or fragrance oil of your choice (optional)



1.  The first step is to secure your wicks to the bottom center of your teacups.  We used a taper candle and melted some wax to stick ours, but they did come unstuck a lot so next time we definitely plan on using wick stickers.

2.  Once you have your wicks secure, you need to create some "wick holders" that will keep the wicks upright & centered when you pour in the melted wax.  We made ours by cutting down wooden skewers, placing two together, and wrapping a rubber band around each end (see picture below).  Place these over your wicks & center them.



3.  Now it's wax melting time!  Pour your wax flakes into your candlemaking pitcher and place on the stove on super low heat.  The amount of flakes you need will vary depending on the size of your teacups & how many candles you want to make, so there's a bit of guesswork that happens here.  Just keep in mind that the wax flakes melt down A LOT and if you do have any left over you can just let it re-harden in the pitcher and save it for next time (or if you have any mason jars laying around you can make candles in those as well!  Just make sure they're heat-safe).

4.  Because your heat is on super low, the wax will take a little time to start melting.  Just keep stirring with that wooden spoon and it will soon transform into a clear, yellow-ish liquid.

5.  Once your wax is melted it's time to add your fragrance!  Every wax & fragrance is different so check your bag of wax flakes to see if it tells you how much scent is needed per lb. of wax.  If you are using a synthetic candle fragrance I believe the ratio is usually about 1oz. of scent per lb. of wax.  We used natural, essential oils for ours which usually requires using more oil, but we decided to wing it and just poured a bunch into our wax until we could smell it (about half a bottle).  In the end our candles weren't very strongly scented, which didn't bother us, but if you're looking for a stronger scent you may want to use some traditional synthetic candle fragrances or add more essential oil than we did.

6.  Now that you've added your fragrance, it's time to let your wax cool a little bit.  (We didn't do this with ours and apparently that's why some of them ended up with little cracks & holes in the wax).  Let it cool until it reaches the consistency of a Slurpee.  Make sure your teacups are on a steady surface where they can remain, undisturbed, for the next 24 hours while they set.  Once the wax is ready, carefully pour it into your teacups, center the wicks if you need to, and you're done!

Your candles will probably look like they're set before the 24 hours are up, but for best results wait that long before using them.  Once they're set, trim the wicks to about 1/2 an inch and light your beautiful candles!