Top 3 candle making mistakes and homemade dungarees

We have been running our scented candle making workshops for nearly 2 years now and we see so many amazing creations and new ideas.

We also see 3 things that happen almost every time we run a session.

1) A beautiful scent has been mixed and is ready to add to the wax....unfortunately it stays in the measuring jug until about 5 minutes after the guest has poured their candle! This is usually followed with

a) the chortling of their friend or close relative

b) the question "Shall I just pour it in now and see what happens?"

2) Not zeroing the wax scales so that too little or too much wax gets weighed out. Is it often the non cooking male fraternity that do this? I couldn't possibly comment.

3) "Your candle smells amazing, what essential oils did you use?"

No idea! You may be a candle making god/goddess, but forget to write down what you used. Due to extreme joy and relaxation during your candle making session, no clear memories of what you used will come to you.

Scented Candle Making

Book Now

All that aside, we still love every session we run. The wonderful way the studio smells, the concentration from guests selecting scent choices and the whoops and happy sighs when another stunning candle is poured.

mark-making, a graphic design agency based near by in Chipping Norton (who are looking for new recruits if you’re interested) came to make candles yesterday for a team building afternoon. Such a lovely bunch of peeps - who tested my recent scent buying strategy. I decided last week (in honour of the herb garden I shall be incorporating into the partire) we should stock a range of herb based scents. Basil, Thyme, Lemongrass, Sage etc. As most of my ideas are usually half-baked affairs, I hadn't got into the studio with Emma to do a little mixology testing of our own to see what scent combinations went best together. Anyway, its all turned out fine, because the clever guys at mark-making came up with some great ideas, I just need to purchase a little ginger and maybe some casis oil to go with my new Fig for the perfect combination.

We seem to have atttracted quite a few companies to come and spend a joyful day or afternoon with us recently. Is it a sign of the times that people still need to get out the office/home study and connect with each other to reignite the team’s energy; but now its about doing stuff with your hands, being creative rather than running through mud or getting out of the panic room?

I still keep a hand in running resilience training for corporate clients and my view has always been that being creative and changing up your environment to something rural can have as many benefits to your performance as more sleep and a better diet. Why not bring your team and try it out for yourself?

On the flock front. Well, what can I say? Flockdown is over and the ducks are venturing over to the flood-plane on a daily basis to dip a nose/beak in the soggy grass. They are getting quite adventurious, so if you do happen to notice Batman or Pei-King on the A436, please do usher them back this way.

Garden plans are going well. My new veg patch is coming together nicely, as is the duck pond and winding yellow brick road to the studio.

Enjoy your weekend peeps!

Melinda x

STOP THE PRESS: how could I forget! Emma and her amazing sewing skills made me some dun

garees last weekend. OMG! they are the best thing I have ever worn. Super heavy-weight linen with a cool-as strap design at the back. Cheers matey x