Holiday Decorating w/Renee from MiaBella Candles

Holiday Decorating w/Renee from MiaBella Candles (1 comment)

Posted on on November 26th, 2009 in: Articles, Articles & Guest Blogs, MoM Thoughts, Shopping & Gift Ideas, Shopping & News from Living My Moment.

SIMPLE IDEAS TO HELP OUR HOMES SHINE BRIGHT FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

I’m Renee Evans from Western Pennsylvania. I offer great smelling candles that are made here in Pennsylvania. It is my pleasure to share with you some activities that are happening in my home business during this busy retailing season. I have been brainstorming about what I could offer my hostesses, their guests and my other customers that would be interesting and of value to them. I’ve hit on something that has been a success. I create candle settings with them.

Perhaps you will want to use some of my ideas for your holiday decorating. They are very simple and quick to create. I’ve always loved to use candles and I love themes. I scour my garden, yard and the woods for natural offerings to decorate my house. The kitchen pantry is a great asset to decorating also. Walk around the house and choose interesting containers. I have chosen a 4-inch deep, round antique copper mold, a beautiful cut glass bowl, a rectangular primitive wood tray, a shallow round piece of pottery, a clear glass trifle bowl and an ornate brown wrought iron tray.

So at the candle party or my open houses, I create 4-5 simple candle settings to put around the house, on the front porch or in the foyer. And the theme? Our wonderfully named Mia Bella jar candles! Here are a few examples:

ORANGE AND CLOVE JAR CANDLE – center stage in a footed trifle bowl with kumquats (Walmart produce section during the holidays) or dried orange slices, resting on a bed of whole cloves, about an inch in depth. Dried oranges are a cinch to make. Slice several up, put it them in your oven on its lowest setting for 5-6 hours, turning them a couple of times, until dried. There you go!

SPICED CRANBERRY – Seated in the cut glass bowl with about an inch of cranberries surrounding it. The bowl sparkles beautifully when the candle is lit. Make sure cranberries are very dry of any moisture and sprinkle them with large crystallized sugar or tiny cut glass beads for extra sparkles.

ALMOND BISCOTTI — Reigning supreme in a French tart pan among a bed of whole almonds in their shell and curls of orange peel or pieces of dried oranges.

PUMPKIN SPICE — Nestled in a shallow pottery bowl with small pumpkin candy, broken cinnamon sticks, whole nutmeg and whole cloves.

HOT APPLE PIE – An interesting shallow basket with a few dried apple rings, broken cinnamon sticks and whole nutmeg, star anise.

6 VOTIVE SNOW PLACE LIKE HOME – Lined up in votive holders on the primitive wooden tray or wrought iron tray and surrounded with holly sprigs, boxwood or pine cut from the garden or woods.

Other adornment ideas – tiny pinecones, rosehips, acorns, bay leaves, whole nutmeg, nuts in their shells. Stores selling bulk spices are a great place to look for interesting additions.

I also suggest to my customers that they put together their own candle settings using unique containers as personalized Christmas or other-occasion gifts. The gift can be finished by wrapping it with cellophane or sheer sparkly tulle (from Walmart) and tied with a beautiful ribbon. You’ll want to keep safety in mind with the placement of the candles and the adornments, which are only to be surrounding about one inch of the candle base. Be sure to use some type of drink coaster under the jar candle to separate it from the container. Candle settings can be created throughout the year, introducing new ideas as the seasons change.

Our gourmet candles are made with a blend of vegetable waxes, and double cotton wicks are used, very environmentally friendly. They burn cleanly for many hours, no soot, and have strong fragrances that last to the bottom of the jar. I invite you to visit my website at www.miabellacleancandles.com. or contact me at srevans5@yahoo.com or Facebook.

I hope your holidays shine brightly!