Some folks are hesitant to enjoy the candles because of worries about cleaning candles or candle wax from various surfaces  like candle holders, table cloths or carpeting.  I’ve gathered some ideas from sites like Lifehacker.com and DoItYourself.com to help you enjoy your candles without worry.

Removing nicks from candles – Improve the look of dusty or nicked candles with an old pair of pantyhose.  Using the hose like a glove, simply rub out the problem. 

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There’s nothing more versatile than hurricane candle holders.  Tall and clear, almost any type of candle looks great in these glass cylinders.  The number of looks available with a glass hurricane candle holder is limited only by your imagination.

Glass cylinders give you the chance to bring a vision to life, especially if you’re trying to match a specific décor or color scheme.  Fill the bottom of the cylinder with something colorful that compliments your room color, like glass marbles, or compliments your theme, like seashells or sand, then place a candle securely on top.  Personally I like to use a short scented pillar, usually a 3” size, so we can enjoy both color and fragrance.

One of the most aromatic ways to use a glass cylinder is by filling the base with coffee beans, then placing a white or ivory candle on top.  The fragrance of the beans will gently fill the room, and will become even stronger when the candle is lit.  The result is absolutely irresistible!  By the way, this makes a great gift for coffee-loving friends.

I like to decorate for the holidays by filling the glass cylinder base with things like red hearts at Valentine’s Day, orange marbles for Halloween, and shiny little ornaments at Christmas.  It’s colorful, inexpensive, and I can change it every year so I never get bored.

Make sure to keep a few glass cylinder candle holders in assorted sizes around your house, and let your imagination run wild!

I just found a great gift item – travel tin aromatherapy candles!  With the huge variety of aromatherapy candles available, finding the right present is as simple as matching the essential oil to the desired effect. 

For example, I know my friend Jackie has a stressful business trip coming up.  The perfect choice for her is a combination of lavender and tangerine called “Relaxation” or bergamot and lime for “Insight” to help her relax after a long day.
Bob and Beth are going to Las Vegas next weekend – without kids – to celebrate his birthday.  We’re sending along a romance inspiring ylang ylang candle to help them enjoy the trip.

Right now, our good neighbors Gail and Bill are packing to move to New York.  To help them with the process, we gave them an early going-away present, a “Vitality” aromatherapy candle containing peppermint and eucalyptus essential oils to help give them the energy they need to complete the move.  Gail said it’s helping, and she can’t believe that Bill will actually spend some time each night relaxing by candlelight.

So if you want to give a friend the gift of peace, romance, energy or something else special and lovely, just get a travel tin aromatherapy candle and you’ll be their best friend ever!

Illuminations just came out with a new metal ball chandelier that is really cool.  Made of wrought iron, shaped like an orb, this hanging candelabra chandelier holds eight votives in clear glass votive holders.

With its open design, this candle holder would work perfectly inside or outdoors, since it is very easy to light the candles through the bars comprising the ball.   For speed, I would definitely recommend using your favorite style of candle lighter. 

It’s pretty hard sometimes to find something that works outside, but the since the votive candles in this one are protected by their votive holders, chances are that unless it’s really windy, your candles should remain lit. 

I like the fact that you can adapt this to any décor or theme just by changing the color of the votives.  It’s also open enough to adorn it with flowers or green sprigs to add color and perhaps even a gentle fragrance if you like.   

Using one inside gives the same options – changing the candles to match the holiday or season – like green votives for Christmas, red votives for Valentine’s Day, pretty pastels for the spring or summer,  autumn gold, orange, and brown for the fall.

Since we’re “in the business” we get alerts on the latest candle news everyday from Google, Yahoo, and a bunch of other sources.  One thing that always saddens me is the number of fires that occur due to unattended candles.  People fall asleep or leave the house, forgetting to blow out a burning candle, and sometimes the worst thing happens. 

I’m sure forgetting to extinguish a candle happens ten thousand times each day, and maybe there’s only one fire, but it still breaks my heart that something as beautiful as a candle can cause something bad to happen.

Some people are more prone to forgetting than others, and I wish someone would tell them about battery operated candles.  Technology is catching up to the desire for something beautiful and now you wouldn’t believe some of the choices available in this style. 

100Candles.com now carries a battery operated candle that not only has an authentic flickering flame, but is vanilla scented too.  The outside of the candle even looks like its got wax drippings on it.  It operates on 4 AA batteries, which last about 180 hours and can be replaced.

Is it as good as a traditional scented candle?  Nothing’s as good as a real scented candle, but this one does a darn good job, and I’d rather trade safety for reality for anyone with a tendency to forget a burning candle.

Please, please, if you know someone who “forgets” about a candle on a regular basis, tell them about battery operated candles so we never have another bad headline involving candles.

When I give a gift, I try to make it special, make it unique.  I like standing out from the crowd!  When it comes to Valentine’s Day, it’s not always easy finding a unique Valentine’s Day gift, so I’m going to share several ideas with you over the next few weeks on things you significant other (yes, both men and women!) would love to get that they will always remember.

One such gift is the great Koala Bear candle, one of the wonderful shaped candles from Discount Candle Shop.  One of the things that make these animals so appealing is their peaceful faces with sleepy eyes encircling those endearing noses only a mother could love.  Through a special process of multi-stage pouring and hand painting, the artist has truly captured their soft, cuddly appeal in wax.  As the mother climbs the tree, baby clinging to her back, you almost want to pet them. 

I know that when I get a special candle I want to keep it just as it is, and thus never actually light it.  The great part about this candle is that it’s wide enough to hold a tealight candle – once you’ve burned it for a few hours, just place a tealight into the burn hole, then you can enjoy it as a truly special candle holder forever.

If you have a koala bear lover – or just an animal lover – on your Valentine’s Day gift list, this candle will make you a hero.  It’s adorable, affordable, and easy to order online.   What are you waiting for?

Now that the excitement of Christmas and New Year’s is over, I started to get the winter doldrums.  Luckily I know a trick  which cures me every time – indulging in a taste of spring through the fragrance of a hyacinth scented candle.

I know that all I have to do is light a hyacinth votive or jar candle and in minutes I feel like springtime is just around the corner.  The delicate floral scent instantly takes me back to playing in the backyard at my grandmother’s house.  She was an incredible gardener and always had hyacinths in her flower bed.  So now, just by lighting this richly scented candle, memories of hot summer days spent bike riding, playing hopscotch and swimming with my best friend Janie, flood my soul.  Can you think of an easier way to turn winter into spring?

So what candle scent reminds you of spring?  Whether its roses or ocean breeze, honeydew or apple, always remember this simple trick to make springtime instantly come alive in your home.

I was hoping they would do this.  Candle Bay has absolutely the cutest collection of shaped Christmas candles available anywhere on line, and now they’ve finally put them on sale.  To be fair, I’ll give you a chance to buy some before I buy them all up to use as gifts for next year!

All my favorites are on sale now, including the adorable Frosted Candyland Pillar Candles and their matching Ceramic Gingerbread Candle Holder.  (I’ve put all these items in our Christmas Candle Shop so they’re easy for you to find!)  These peppermint stripped candles have a Christmas tree surrounding the wick, and offer a peppermint fragrance highlight with a hint of berries.  They are so cute, and you get the benefit of a scented candle in as well as a terrific decoration.

The Gingerbread Gumdrop House makes a fantastic centerpiece or decoration on any table.  Since it’s made of wax instead of actual gingerbread, this decoration can last for years too.  The kids will have to look closely to make sure that this is really a candle, since the gumdrops, icing on the rooftop and smiling gingerbread people flanking the door.  If you regularly participate in $10 gift exchanges, this gift would be a huge hit – everyone will realize it actually is worth more, but you’ll be telling the truth about staying within the agreed budget.  I love doing that.

I visited a friend’s house for New Year’s Eve, and I loved what she had done in her powder room.  The room had a seashore theme, and next to the sea shells and sand dollars, she worked in lots of shaped candles and a few richly scented candles.

The vanity had a filled seashell candle next to the bottle of liquid soap; it was so pretty I did a double-take to make sure it actually was a candle.  The effect was a delicate emphasis of the room’s theme which didn’t take up much space on the small vanity.

There was a small shelving unit in the corner with an Ocean Scented jar candle burning on the top shelf.  It gave the whole room an intriguing fresh breeze scent that kept things smelling fresh even though the bathroom was being used extensively by all the party guests. The light from the single flame was enough to enable guests to find the light switch, so our hostess didn’t have to leave the vanity light turned on.  I noticed that she also had an Island Flowers scented candle on another shelf, so she switched fragrances whenever she wanted something different.

Finally, on top of the commode, a collection of starfish candles floated in a clear glass bowl.   Candle Bay offers a selection of starfish candles, which gave her the same variety of sizes and hues found at the beach.

Combining all the candles with the embroidered towels, decorated soap dispenser, and hurricane vase filled with sea shells created a beautifully accessorized room completely in tune with her theme.  The greatest thing about including candles in the room was the addition of scent through the jar candle, as well as color and texture from the shaped candles, all for just a few dollars each.  Whether you’re decorating your home for the first time, or just want to refresh a room’s décor, remember candles are one of the least expensive and most effective ways to add color, fragrance and texture to any room.

Just as much as Valentine’s Day is a time to tell the love of your life how you feel about them, it’s a time to let other special people know how they make your day brighter.  I’m talking about friends, co-workers, even distant relatives who remember your birthday each year.  There’s something extra special about being remembered on Valentine’s Day – a day focused on treasuring relationships and friendships. And when you’re looking for a simple, inexpensive idea to let someone know they’re special, candles make a wonderful choice.

I’ve given co-workers scented candles with excellent results.  Even though you can’t burn a candle in an office, taking the top off a richly scented jar candle fills a cubicle with delicious fragrance without spreading the aroma throughout the office.  If your recipient has allergies, go with a cute shaped candle instead – perhaps a pretty flower such as a rose or gardenia, or something cute like a starfish or candle filled sea shells.

If you both have stressful jobs, an aromatherapy candle containing essential oils that create a peaceful mood, like gourmet vanilla, green tea & ginger or thai lemongrass (all available as long-lasting Therape candles from Candle Bay). 

For one of my favorite co-workers, everything in her life was focused on her kids, so I tried to keep that in mind when I picked something out for her.  I went with a set of four candles that looked and smelled like different flavors of cupcakes.  She loved it, especially since her kids loved it, and I always got a smile from her each morning when I got to the office.

Who are the special people you work with each day?  Take a few minutes now to remember them at Valentine’s Day, and you’ll ensure getting a smile each morning for the rest of the year. 

By the way, all of these Valentine’s Day candle gifts can be found in our Valentine’s Day Candle Shop.