Random Christmas Faves and a DIY for Candle Making

Hey!!! Goodness do I miss blogging on a regular basis — and reading other’s blogs as well! Subbing in the schools has been crazy busy lately. I love it BUT I miss my normal routine, so I’ve made it a goal to get a post out…even if it means currently writing at 3:45 A.M. I’m gonna include a few of my own random holiday favorites plus a DIY on candle making today. I wish I was publishing this post two weeks ago but it is what it is…better late than never!!

Just for the record you’ll see a lot of Amazon links in this post, I don’t get commission from any purchases made LOL..I wish though!

Random Christmas Faves:

1. Delicious Gluten-free Gingerbread Cookies! This recipe is absolutely amazing. I’ve been using it for a few years now and then I make a non gluten-free version for those in my family who don’t have to eat gluten-free (it’s more cost-effective this way because gf flour is pricey) and let me tell you — my family actually prefers the gluten-free over the regular.

Soft and Chewy Gluten-free Gingerbread Men recipe

2. Checkered Christmas Tree Skirt. It was time for me to update our Christmas tree skirt and I knew I wanted something simple and timeless. I feel like black and red checkered is a Christmas time staple so I couldn’t go wrong with this choice. Even Max and Eli seem to appreciate it!!

Checkered tree skirt on Amazon

3. Christmas Music! I love to listen to Christmas music and anything from Pentatonix, the Home Alone sound track, to Michael Buble is good for me!

Mary Did You Know?

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

4. Christmas (tree) Light Dimmer. We typically keep our tree lights on all day and all night. The kids like the lights to serve as a nightlight but since our Christmas tree sits right outside their bedroom doors they complained about how bright it was so I ordered (from Amazon) this nifty light dimmer. Works like a “dream!”

Christmas Light Dimmer

5. Video Projector and Screen. If you’re looking for a last minute Christmas gift for the family this might be the thing for you! The kids have been asking for a tv projector this year. They want to be able to watch a movie outback when the weather warms up again or set up a “theater” in the living room (where we don’t have a tv) and because of the versatility I caved. Kind of excited about this gift personally!!

**There’s a $20 off coupon right now on the projector so you can get it for 60 bucks and the screen for another 30ish on Amazon..add a bag of popcorn as stocking stuffers and you have a super cool family gift all for under a hundred dollars!

Megawise Video Projector

Projector Screen

Okay the last part of this post I’ll show how to make your own candles and I’m also going to include the fact that I’ll never make them again, too messy! I’m actually not even a fan of candles. When essential oils stepped into my house, I threw out every one of my candles because the oils are a safer, cleaner option. Nevertheless I happened to have leftover beeswax in my house from some soap and lotion projects my girls had been doing and since I don’t like things going to waste I figured I’d put the beeswax toward candle making and use them as Christmas gifts. This idea of candle making was close to the worst craft experience I’ve had, the first was the time I stapled into my finger with a finish nailer while making pallet-board Christmas trees.

Anyway here’s what you’ll need:

Beeswax pellets

Candle wicks

Coconut oil

A saucepan filled half full of water

An empty large soup can

Hot pads

A spoon that you don’t mind tossing afterwards

Mason jars/tea cups

Hot glue gun and glue

Pencil

**A pound and a half of beeswax pellets made 8 small candles.

Instructions: First use a glue gun to glue the end of the candle wick (on the metal piece) to the bottom of the tea cup or jar in the middle.

Next you’ll want to crease the soup can rim to create a spout and then fill it half full of beeswax. Put the can into the pan of water with the burner set on medium heat and give a little stir every so often.

**Be sure the water in the pan is a little higher than the wax in the soup can.

Once the wax has completely melted into liquid form (using hotpads) you can remove the can from the stovetop, set it on a hot pad or cutting board, add in a tablespoon of coconut oil and stir well. **At this point you could add essential oils but you’ll need about 20-30 drops to even notice the smell; I’m cheap so I went without. You’ll want to work quickly because the wax sets up pretty fast.

After you’ve mixed, it’s time to pour the wax into the jars or tea cups. **Try to avoid pouring onto the wick or the sides of your jar, see photo below.

Now you can roll the wick around a pencil and allow the pencil to rest on top of your jar or cup.

Leave it this way for about 12 hours, remove the pencil and cut the wick nearly an inch from the wax. That’s all there is to it!

**You can continue the process of the directions above using the same soup can and spoon until your wax is all used up or you run out of jars or tea cups.

Seriously the most satisfying part of this whole deal for me was watching how quick the wax hardens, otherwise I’ll resort to Yankee (candles) from here on out for gifting!!😅

Here’s the final product:

As always if you end up giving this DIY a try I’d like to hear about it in the comments.

Have an amazing week!

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” —John 8:12