No More Black Smoke!

 

I LOVE the smell of candles!  Especially during the fall/winter.  What I don't like is the yucky black smoke, not to mention having an open flame in my house.

 

After refusing to light even one more candle, I got a little warmer like this....

It was okay, but there are some things I didn't like about it.

1)  It's hard to tell if it's on. (I left it on all night once - yikes!)
2)  They don't even start to smell until the wax melts all the way through the top.  So, if you have a large candle - that could take all day!
3)  You still have to buy a jar candle - and sorry, but they can be expensive.
4)  Not very cute. :)

 

Therefore, I have totally converted over to the adorable warmer pots. 

 

They start smelling immediately,  the pots are super cute, and the wax is really inexpensive (because you can use any kind).  That's my favorite part.  The warmer I got was from Bed Bath & Beyond.  It came with a free wax and I had a coupon - yay!

Then, when I was in Walmart, they had some yummy smelling wax from Better Homes & Gardens that were only $2 a piece.  Can't beat that. :)  I melted a carrot cake one yesterday - yummo!!

 

Now, what to do with all my old favorite-smelling candles?  I can't ever light them again because the wick is melted somewhere inside, and the old warmer takes too long - so I turned them into bricks! 

 

Here is what I did:

1) Melt the old candle wax completely. I used the old warmer, you can also use hot water on the stove.

 

2)  Pour melted wax into molds.  I used the one that came with my warmer and the other one I bought at Walmart.  I wonder if those little silicone trays would work?  I might have to try it. :)

 

3)  Let cool completely.  Since I only had two molds, I stuck mine in the fridge just to get them cooled faster.

 

That's it!  After they were all done, I put them in plastic bags labeled with the name of the scent, and stuck them in a drawer.  That's another good thing - they take up sooo much less space than all those candles did! 

 

If you wrapped them up pretty - they would make really great gifts, too!

Love it!! Now I'm off to help my mom make blocks out of all her old candles! haha :)

 

Stay-Soft Brown Sugar

Everyone has "tricks" to keep their brown sugar soft. I have heard them all, and even tried them all. (Anyone ever put a piece of bread in your brown sugar container?) And guess what? They NEVER work! Sorry, but they don't.

 

A million years ago (maybe like 10) when we got our vacuum sealer, I started putting my brown sugar in jars and then sucking the air out - it worked great!  Then, I got lazy and stopped using the sealer.  It STILL worked great!!  I have been putting my brown sugar in jars ever since, and never ever ever had one speck of hardened brown sugar.  Seriously.  It's that easy.  Who knew?

 

 

 

When I open a new bag of brown sugar, I just pour as much as I can into a wide-mouth jar* and then poke it down with the tip of a spoon. I don't pack it tight, but kind of jab at it, so it fits better and gets any lumps out.  I keep doing that until it's almost to the very top.  Then I just store them in my pantry to use as needed.

 

 *I use wide-mouth so it's easier to spoon out.  And I also like the smaller jars, but you really can use any kind you want.

 

 



So that's it!  I recently converted my sister to this jar method and she loves it!  Try it and see what you think.