Candle making is by no means a dangerous affair and is often an activity that is fun for all the family however people should follow some very basic safety precautions.

Source: Marvin (PA)

David Fisher points out that there are 3 areas of danger which need to be considered when making candles.

• Dealing with hot wax
• Accidents & Spills
• Using fragrances etc that can irritate skin. Be careful of what you use.

Preperation

Like with most things preparation is essential when taking on a candle making project. You should start by selecting an appropriate location to make your candles. It should be somewhere with plenty of space and is not near anything that could catch fire or cause harm to yourselves. It would also be useful to have a fire distinguisher and wipes on hand to clean up spillages and put out live flames.

Follow A Method

People often find following a method harder than they first thing so the golden rule is to take your time. Don’t rush it as you will only make mistakes. Follow your chosen guide carefully.

I think Cajun probably have some of the best candle making guides and they are well worth the look.

http://www.cajuncandles.com/beginnersguide.html

Ingredients

Be careful with the ingredients you use. Some can be toxic so be careful with your hands. I would recommend using gloves. Also colouring can be very powerful and can ruin clothes if splashed on them. Wear sensible clothes that you don’t mind ruining.

Melt Your Wax Safely

Wax does not look like much but when your heating it to extreme temperatures it can become extremely dangerous.

Keep an eye on the temperature. You don’t want your wax to get to hot.

Never leave hot wax unattended. It is probably the stage where you should take over from your children. Don’t even leave it to answer the phone or for any other distraction. Monitor it carefully.

These are all common sense rules but very much worth sticking to and the main thing is to enjoy the experience.

The National Candle Association also gives some great general advice on candle safety.

Candles are one of the worlds most recognized symbols and represent so many different things so why don’t we use them more often?

Image By: Teon

When we think about candles we think about festivities, prayer, freedom, warmth, romance and tranquility. This amazing range of associations makes us at Candles To You think why aren’t the general public using them more frequently? It’s certainly a strange one and we are hoping in 2009 this will change.

Ideas

The great thing about candles is the variety of places you can use them in. They sit comfortably in the garden, in the dining room, in the lounge, in the bedroom and even in the bathroom. There are literally candles available for every room.

Candles have come along way since the 50’s and even if we say it ourselves there are some seriously cool designs around. The image of a traditional candle will resonate in many people’s mind in reality candles today differ in shape, size thickness and style. Candles these days can even be shaped as stars or as a sphere.

If you like to do things your own way the development in candle accessories has come on significantly. Candle holders are available in a range of odd shapes and you can now even make candles yourself with wax beads.

So now you know whats out there why not take a look around and find what you need to decorate your home in 2009.

Before the economic down turn property development was in its ascendancy and in order to help sell homes developers would add neat little finishing touches. These included rugs, throws, candles and much more.

Property expert recently gave an interview to the Times discussing the use of scented candles for decoration. Other property experts also went on to say that you should even change your candles to keep in with the seasons. We think this is a great idea and loved the thought of using exotic scented candles in the winter while using cool and refreshing scents in the summer.

The article also discussed the notion that we should be using decorations around candles. By this they mean make the candle the centre piece while wrapping or putting things around it.

So why do so many people purchase candles on the web and what makes companies like Candles To You special? These are questions that we occasionally get asked in our line of work so we thought it might be useful to answer them here on our blog. People can then look at this resource in the future.

To answer this question you really have to look at what is available on the hight street. Numerous stores on the high street sell candles but what ranges do they actually sell. Most of them sell very limited ranges and compete solely on price. They tend to stock tea light candles and candle sticks. They are also often presented in unattractive boxes and no care to attention or detail is given. This is where companies like us make a real difference.

At Candles To You we really care about the products we sell so we look closely at what our suppliers are doing and where they are heading. We also look for the finest scented candles and candles that stand out. Candles on the web should be exciting and be a place where people can get candles that are simply not available anywhere else. So essentially you are getting a wider product range and in essence better quality products online.

We hope you enjoy finding candles on the web as much as we do.

The nation is turning green this christmas by opting to buy environmentally friendly Christmas decorations. More and more companies are producing such decorations and according to the Times newspaper people are even routing back to more traditional decorations. This is great news for companies like ourselves as candles are probably one of the most traditional decorations you can buy.

Green news site Natural News even goes on to say that scented candles are beautiful whether lit or unlit and make wonderful accents to centrepieces, window sills, lanterns and other decorations. They also go onto say that scented candles can bring the festive smell to a home if carefully selected.

The great thing about candles is that they are also extremely cost effective decorations. You can also customise candles with ideas of your own. We think that wrapping green holly leaves around a candle arrangement looks great.

Send us your great christmas decoration ideas.

Candles To You and its new fragrance diffusers have been named in a prestigious christmas gifts guide this month. Heaven Spa, the award winning beauty salon specialists named the Mandarin & Lime Basil Luxury Diffusers in their seasonal list.

A short extract about from the list can be seen below:

The Mandarin & Lime Basil luxury diffusers are the real head turners and area a safe alternative to candles.

Of course we were delighted by the comments and by being included in such a list. We hope this will help us to grow our reputation and establish ourselves as a leader in the candle retail market place.

We are also a big fan of Heaven Spa and have been following them for some time. We have recently visited one of their Spa’s and given the chance to try some of their products. The Pevonia Skin care range was one that caught our attention in particular and we wanted to tell you about some of their great products. We and several others got the chance to try out the following products.

• Pevonia Dry Skin Cleanser
• Pevonia Dry Skin Lotion
• Pevonia Rejuvenating Dry Skin Cream
• Pevonia Rejuvenating Dry Skin Mask
• Pevonia Aromatherapy Face Oil Dry
• Pevonia Vitaminic Concentrate

Well worth a visit. It’s a good day out!