There we were my daughter and I, spending a nice afternoon together and strolling through a quaint second hand shop with no intent on making any purchases.  We were talking and laughing while gazing at the goodies all around us.  We do this often and most of the time we don't spend a dime.  Well, this day was different.

As I rounded the corner my eyes were drawn to a pair of lamps with hand painted pink and green flowers and then I was drawn to the dangling sales tag where "$19 each" was boldly written.

$19 each!?

A Steal of a Deal and a Touch Up for Fall

It had been a while,

and my car must have known it,

because I was in the parking lot before I even knew what was happening.

When The Flowers Fade

I can't think of anything more beautiful in the middle of winter,

when everything outdoors is dormant and drab,

than having fragrant and colorful flowers indoors.

One of the things I miss most during the winter is bringing in fresh picked flowers from the garden.  They add so much joy to a room!
So here's a great way to have the next best thing all winter long!

Creating Fall Candles ~ Fragrance an Element in Design

We want our guest to feel special,

so we greet them by decorating our entries with flowers, wreaths and flags;

saying "welcome" before they even enter our home.

Hanging Antique Plates and Preserving History

For a while now I've been looking for some plates to hang on each side of the living room mirror,

but wasn't having much luck.  The plates I came across were too big, the wrong colors, all the same pattern, or too pricey.

Then,
waiting for me at the antique shop just up the road,
were six plates with the perfect pattern and size for the spot.

Small Antique Chair Solution for Clutter

I've found that my new spot for reading is in the keeping room.

It's close to the coffee pot,

just beside the laundry room,

and is in the heart of our home, the kitchen,

so it's the perfect spot to pull up the footstool and cozy up with a book.

There's been one problem.

I'm one of those that doesn't finish a book before starting another

and have several daily devotionals that I read, so there's clutter!

There is always a stack of books, my journal and pens cluttering up the table.

I needed a solution for keeping my books close by without all the mess

and

that's

when

this

small

antique

chair

came

to

mind.

Getting The Most Bang For Your Candle Buck

Candles are my favorite way to add fragrance to my home.

You may remember my confession?  I was still burning a Fresh Balsam Scented Candle well after Christmas!  That's one of my favorite scents and I am still burning the same candle...

There are a few things I do to get the most bang for my candle buck, and I wanted to share them with you. 

~ Before lighting a candle for the first time, the wick is trimmed and the cutting discarded.  A long wick causes the candle to burn faster which decreases the life of the candle.

~ Before relighting a candle, the wick is trimmed and the cutting discarded. Well, I trim the wick unless adding more wax to the candle, which I'll talk about in a bit.

~  After lighting a candle I leave it lit, so there will be enough time for the entire top surface to melt from side to side, which can take an hour or several hours depending on the size of the candle.  I've learned the hard way that blowing out the candle prior to the entire top surface melting causes tunneling.  Most waxes have memory, and once a tunnel has begun the candle will more than likely never achieve a full burn.

This candle has a full melt, a long wick, and it is time to extinguish it...




~ Once the candle surface has come to a full melt and the wick is getting long, I go ahead and extinguish the candle. The reason is, at full melt the high fragrance candle has already filled the room with as much fragrance as possible within this burn, and it's now burning hotter, and faster, so the candle burn time is decreasing.  To get the most burn time from the candle, extinguish it.

In time the fragrance will dissipate and when more fragrance is desired relight the candle, but only after the previous melt has completely cooled.  By doing this the candle will last so much longer and that is the goal here, to get the most bang for my candle buck by increasing the burn time.

If I am having company over, or just want a candle burning for a longer period, another is kept close by so when one is extinguished, another can be lit.

~ To extinguish the candle, I use a candle dipper.  Have you ever noticed after blowing out your candle how bad the black soot smoke looks and smells? (Say that three times fast!)  Dipping the wick into the wax will extinguish the flame and keep that smelly smoke from filling the air.  It also allows the wick to be re-coated with wax for the next lighting.

Another way to get a longer candle burn time is to add more wax...

A long wick causes the candle to burn hotter and faster, which is why wicks should be trimmed.

Rather than extinguishing the candle and trimming the wick before the next use, I will often add more wax to the candle which increases the candle burn time.

This is where the added wax comes from... 

Once jar candles have burn down to the point they can no longer be used 

there is usually a good bit of scented wax still left in the bottom of the jar, so I hold on to the wax and save it!

I cover the jar if it came with a lid and store it.  Later, when a candle I am using burns to a full melt and the wick is getting long like the one above, I add a bit of the saved wax to the melted wax.

Here's how...

This saved jar of wax happens to be the same fragrance as the candle above, but it has burned too low to be used again, so using a kitchen spoon (something that won't melt) I scoop up some of the leftover wax...

Moving the spoon over to the lit candle, I keep it close to the side of the jar so I'm not close to the flame and so the wax won't land on top of the flame.  Using another spoon or the tip of my finger, I slide the scoop of wax out of the spoon and into the hot wax below.  Maybe 2 or 3 scoops will be added, it depends on the length of the wick.  

You can see in the picture below the added wax is being melted by the hot wax.

Each added scoop of wax causes the melted wax to rise up the sides of the wick so the wick is becoming shorter and is no longer requiring a trim, which makes for a longer candle burn time.

Another way to use saved candle wax is by using a simmering pot...

By saving the fragrant candle wax there is no need to purchase any for simmering pots and it doesn't matter which type of warmer is used.  This one is a tea light warmer and just placing a scoop or two on the simmering pot fills the room with fragrance.  A great way to save a little money and it works like a charm!

Sometimes I mix fragrances, if the saved candle wax happens to be a different fragrance than the candle that's currently burning, or it will be used in a simmering pot.

I enjoy taking these steps to get the biggest bang for my candle buck, and hope you've found this helpful.

Have any candle tips you can share, please do...

Oh yeah, here's what you can do with all those candle jars once the wax is gone...It's A Keeper!

A disclaimer:  I am not a candle expert.  These are not the "rules and safety measures" to take when burning a candle.  I am sharing what I do to get the most candle burn time from my candles and how I save wax to increase candle burning time, however you should always use your best judgement when burning your candles. 

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Flower Arranging with Tissue Paper

Flower arranging with tissue paper...it really works!

We decided the corner cupboard would work well in the great room,

but once in place we realized the tall ceilings made the short cupboard look too short!  We needed a little something to go on top.

I thought I would make a flower arrangement, and with all that's going on these days I needed to shop the house.  So, I gathered some dried hydrangea and a crystal vase, but as soon as I added one hydrangea to the vase and went to add another, the first one was falling out.  A filler was needed to keep the stems in place, so I added some sparkly fruit that I use at Christmas, and it worked pretty well.  As days passed though, the dark fruit in the crystal vase was looking a little "too dark".

So out comes the tissue paper.

It's white (brighter than the dark fruit),

and it shapes well to each hydrangea stem,

so I was hoping that it would keep each stem in place.

I had some extra hydrangea from one of my neighbors bushes, so I thought I would add a few more while I was at it.  Here's what the arrangement looked like...

As you can see, the back didn't have any flowers.

This is the fruit used as filler to hold each stem in place...

Of course once the tissue paper was out of the gift wrapping drawer,

Miss Curious (Coco) and Miss Curiouser (Jet)

were right in the middle of things...

I emptied the crystal vase and began wrapping each stem with tissue paper...

I began by lining the vase with tissue paper too,

but it wasn't really needed, so I removed it and began placing each tissue wrapped stem into the vase...

Once they were all added, ta-da...

The arrangement placed back on top of the corner cupboard...

Before,

a bit too dark...

And after,

much lighter and each stem is definitely held in place ...

Next time you are arranging silk or dried flowers, give this a try.

The tissue paper worked like a charm!

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GUEST BATH ~ ROHL & FLITZ

There isn't much I would change about our guest bath.

We still have a few things to do, like finding a vanity stool and choosing what to do with the walls. 

Leave them painted as is, paint another color, or put up some wallpaper?

But we are happy with our choices so far.

We are especially happy with the choice to go with polished nickel for the lighting and hardware finishes

as well as the Rohl plumbing fixtures.

It is hard to take pictures of this room because of the size so the angles always look a little funny.

And wouldn't you know, the sun isn't shining today,

so the picture above is with the lights on

and

the one below is with the lights off.

The plumbing fixtures started out all bright and shiny,

and pretty much stay this way with occasional use.

But when family moves in for a few months, things change a bit.

What I had read about polished nickel prior to choosing it for our guest bath fixtures, began coming true.

Polished nickel needs a bit more attention than chrome fixtures do.

See the spots and discoloration...

How about now, easier to see?

This discoloration and spotting happens when polished nickel fixtures are used on a daily basis.

This is such a pretty metal, even when it's spotty,

but preferring things to look nice and shiny I had to figure out how I was going to do.

Well, let me introduce you to my new helper, Flitz!

Flitz is a polish paste, so you know what I'm going to say next...right?

Yep, the dreaded wipe on, and then rub, rub, rub it in.

And then wipe it off, buffing to a shine...just like polishing silver.

Nope, no fun at all!

But, it really didn't take long

and

I am so glad  to have found a way to keep polished nickel clean and shiny.

Isn't this better...

Much better!

There is nothing prettier than polished nickel fixtures and I am still glad we chose it, but a little FYI if you are thinking about this finish in your bath or kitchen.

Before choosing Carrara marble we were told it was not easy to care for either,

and it was suggested that we shouldn't put it in our bath,

on the countertops, on the floor, or in the shower.

But we love it,

so we did it,

and

so far so good!

How about you, any tips to share?

Blessings,

Cindy

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