I absolutely love candles; there’s just something so peaceful and homey about having a candle burning. I love to browse the different scents and styles when I’m shopping somewhere like Hobby Lobby, T.J. Maxx, or Christmas Tree Shop, and I’m always drawn to the ones in mason jar-like containers. The problem is that they can be expensive! So I decided to try to make some of my own.

I already had some 4-ounce jelly jars that I thought would be a cute size for candles, and I also picked up a couple of 8-ounce jars. The candle wax was on sale at Hobby Lobby last week, so I got a 2-lb. bag of soy wax flakes, along with a spiced pumpkin fragrance oil and some red and yellow dye, to make orange candles.

The first step is to melt the wax. I started with one pound of wax flakes, because I read online to use half an ounce of fragrance oil per pound of wax. I wasn’t sure how many candles that would make, but I thought that was a good place to start.

Next, melt the wax in a double boiler. I wanted to have a way to pour the wax, so I made my own “double boiler” by putting this old glass measuring cup in a pot of water on the stove. Heat the wax to 180*F, and make sure to stir it occasionally. A candy thermometer is a great way to keep an eye on the temperature!

Once the wax reaches 180*F, remove it from the heat and add the dye. I was hoping for a medium orange, but I didn’t know how the ratio of red to yellow would end up looking, so I ended up using too much red. Luckily the candles still looked orange when they cooled, but a very reddish orange! Then, once the wax has cooled to 175*F, add the fragrance oil. I used about half an ounce in this batch.

Now, let the wax cool to 120*F before pouring it into the jars. While you’re waiting, get the wicks and jars ready. Other tutorials online said to wrap the wick around a pencil or toothpick to help keep it in place, but my wicks were pre-cut and not long enough to wrap around anything. So I just set them in the bottom of the jars, and held them with one hand while I poured the wax with the other. Then I could still move them around before the wax hardened.

Save a little wax and leave a little space in your jars for later. Let the candles cool for 30 minutes or so, and when they start to harden, they may start to sink a little in the middle. Use a toothpick to poke a few holes near the wick to let the air bubbles escape, then reheat the remaining wax to 175*F. Then top off your candles and let them set! I let mine set overnight before trimming the wicks and putting the covers on. One pound of wax ended up making one 8-ounce candle and three 4-ounce candles.

This was a really fun project, and homemade candles would make great Christmas gifts! I can’t wait to make some more candles and try some holiday scents 🙂

I saw this quote on Pinterest the other day, and it really made me think. When fall rolls around, everyone celebrates the return of cooler weather and the leaves changing color. But really, the leaves only turn beautiful colors because they’re dying, and the cooler weather is a sign of the cold, dark winter to come.

It sounds a little depressing to think about it that way, but I think there’s an important lesson to learn from the autumn season. Yes, things are changing, but that’s part of life. How we respond is up to us. The trees respond by turning brilliant, beautiful colors and bringing us joy. They have to let go of their leaves and die a little during the winter so they can rest, regroup, and grow again in the spring.

The same is true for us. There are things in our lives that have died through no fault of our own, or things that we need to consciously choose to release. It could be the loss of a job, the ending of a friendship, the death of a long-held dream or the expectations we had for our lives, or any change that makes us uncomfortable. Maybe there are things we need to choose to let go of: bad habits, pride, anger, bitterness. Whatever it may be, these things can weigh us down physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Paul talked about this in Hebrews 12:1-2:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Change is hard, whether it’s thrust upon us or something that we recognize we need to let go so we can run our race better. Whenever you find yourself in a fall season of your life, remember the beauty of the changing leaves. If we face those changes with grace and trust in God, a fall season can be a catalyst for rest in the winter and new growth in the spring. Don’t be afraid to let go of the dead things in your life; let God’s glory and beauty shine through you, just like He shows His glory in the beauty of the autumn leaves.

This Blog-tember prompt comes at a pretty perfect time! The last couple weeks have been really busy between school starting, spending all last week getting ready to sell iced coffee at the fair, spending almost thirty-five hours at the fair over three days last weekend, and coming down with a cold/sinus infection this week. This weekend sounds like a good time to relax a little, so I’ll be ready to take on next week!

Friday, September 16: How do you de-stress/take care of yourself?

1. Write it down! One of the main things that stresses me out is my mind swirling with everything I need to do. Sometimes, I get to the point where I just need to write things down so I can clear my head and stop worrying about forgetting something on my to-do list. That’s where my planner comes in handy! It really helps to have everything written out where I can see it.
2. Cleaning This may sound kind of strange, but another way I de-stress is to clean. Honestly, I love cleaning, especially the kitchen and my room. I feel so much better when my surroundings aren’t cluttered and messy. I love to put on a podcast or some music and get cleaning!
3. Reading Of course, reading is one of my favorite things to do when I have some time to myself. There’s just something about settling in with a good book that brings me peace, and I’ve been loving these cool fall days when I can read outside!
4. Coloring I’ve recently jumped on the adult coloring bandwagon. I have a couple of coloring books, but I just found these cards (one of them is pictured above) that I really like! They’re smaller than a coloring book page so they don’t take as long to finish, they’re not stuck in a coloring book where you may never see them again, and I can send them to my friends 🙂
5. Embroidery Last but not least, I’ve also been teaching myself how to embroider. It’s so relaxing, and I love choosing the perfect colors and then seeing the design come to life! It’s also a good activity to do while watching a show, so I feel like I’m doing something instead of just vegging 😉

What do you do to relax and take care of yourself?

I’ve always loved spending time in the kitchen, but I usually enjoy cooking meals more than baking. That all changes when the pumpkin recipes start popping up on Pinterest in the fall! Then I’m suddenly in the mood to make pretty much anything pumpkin-related: cookies, shakes, coffee, waffles, muffins, pies…you name it! These yummy-looking treats are all on my fall Pinterest board, and I’m planning on trying some soon!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodles, Pumpkin Spice Latte Shake, Pumpkin Spice Waffles, Pumpkin Pie Crescents, Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins, Pumpkin Spice Truffles

I love today’s Blog-tember prompt: five things that bring you joy. I’m starting to realize how important it is to recognize what brings you joy, and to make time in your schedule to enjoy those things. It’s so easy to rush from one thing to the next, crossing items off our to-do lists. That is good and necessary, but what fun is life if you can’t experience some joy while you’re at it? So here are five things that bring me joy.

1. Reading outside on a cool morning. I love to read anywhere, any time, but I especially love those cool mornings in the spring and fall when I have time to sit out on the porch with my coffee and a good book.
2. Candles. There’s just something so peaceful about having a candle burning, especially one in a mason jar 😉
3. Fall/autumn. I love pretty much everything about fall. Cooler weather, colorful leaves, pumpkin everything, fairs, football…not to mention my birthday! Last year, I was working at Hobby Lobby, and seeing all the fall decor was one of the highlights of my day at work 😉 Plus, it includes Thanksgiving and the lead-up to Christmas, which are two of my favorite holidays.
4. Coffee. I don’t think that needs much of an explanation!
5. Stationary and notebooks. Whenever I’m at Target or TJMaxx, I head straight for the stationary aisle. I don’t know what I’ll ever do with all those notecards and notebooks, but I’m sure they’ll come in handy someday, right?

Honorable mentions (no less important than the other things I’ve mentioned, but I had to pick five!): road trips with my family (even just to church), going on adventures with my sister, and going to sleep listening to the rain. There really are a lot of joy-filled things and moments in life, if we will just stop to look for them!

What brings you joy?

It’s hard to believe summer is pretty much over! The calendar and the weather may not show it, but school has started again and the last few days have been feeling like fall here in New England. Summer went by so fast, but it was fun while it lasted!  Here are some of my favorites from the summer season.

Book: Montana Fire series by Susan May Warren – I love everything that Susan May Warren writes, and I was so excited to hear that the first book in her new Montana Rescue series is coming out in October! Then when I found out she was releasing a series of three e-books as kind of a prequel to the Montana Rescue series, I immediately added them to my summer reading list. All of her books are a great mix of romance, adventure, faith, and family, and as an added bonus, this summer’s series included some characters from her past books.

Product: dry shampoo – This stuff is seriously awesome! Let’s face it, there are a lot of things I’d rather do in the summer than wash my hair every day. It’s so nice to be able to spray some of this in my hair, brush it, and go. (Not Your Mother’s is my favorite brand, and I’m not making any money by saying that!)

TV show: Olympic gymnastics – I love the Olympics, and the women’s gymnastics is my favorite sport to watch. It looks like so much fun, but also so hard to pull off! I really admire anyone who can compete, especially at that level. Watching the national championships and Olympic trials, trying to guess who would make the team, and then watching the actual Olympics was something fun my sister and I could look forward to and enjoy together. Plus Team USA totally killed it out there! We also loved listening to this song that sounds like it was written for the Olympics. I have no idea if it was, but it’s perfect!

New recipe: blueberry cobbler – My grandmother has a little patch of blueberry bushes, and for a few weeks this summer she was giving us a quart of blueberries every few days. We found this recipe for blueberry cobbler on Pinterest and made it twice. It’s really easy and it’s soo good!

Memory: beach sunrise – One day, the week before my sister had to go back to college, we decided to go on an adventure. We left the house at 4:30am, stopped for coffee, and headed to the beach to see the sunrise. We took some pictures, made a few funny videos with boomerang, froze our feet in the water (the Atlantic is cold any time of year up here!), and checked out one of the touristy shops. It was a fun, spontaneous road trip, and definitely worth getting up so early!

Movie: Captain America – I’m not really sure how I lived to the year 2016 without seeing any of the Captain America movies (or the Avengers, or anything Marvel related), but I did. Then my sister and I decided to go see a movie, and Captain America: Civil War is the one we ended up seeing. After that, I was hooked, and had to rent or borrow every other movie with Cap in it. Kind of silly, but it’s a fun memory from this summer!

How about you? What are some of your favorites from this summer?

I’m back for the second day of Blog-tember! Today’s prompt is to write about your current goals, so here are my goals for September.

1. Blog at least three times a week. I should have plenty of inspiration with the Blog-tember prompts! I’m hoping to write more than three posts a week, but it’s better to have low expectations so you can beat them, right?

2. Read four books (at least two non-fiction). I have so many books that I haven’t read, mostly nonfiction because I always seem to make time for a good novel 😉 I really want to make a dent in that pile. Two won’t make much of a difference, but it’s a start!

3. Set up a budget. When I was working at my last job, I used the Mint app on my phone to give myself a budget. I haven’t done that since I started at my current job, so that’s a priority for this month. It’s way too easy to spend money on coffee and books if I don’t give myself some limits!

4. Movie/coffee with a friend. One of my goals for the year is to spend more time developing my friendships. It’s been a long time since I’ve really been able to spend time with my best friend, and I think we could both use an afternoon out, having fun and catching up.

5. Send a package to my sister at college. She has a lot fuller schedule this year than she did last year, so I want to be more intentional about encouraging her and cheering her up. Hopefully she isn’t reading this 😉

So there you have it! Five goals for September. I’m hoping to post next month about how I did, and then set some goals for October.

What are your goals for this month?