Future Yankee Candle Chandlers

For her 7th birthday last year, my daughter knew just what kind of a party she wanted: Wax Works. Wax Works is the name of the hands-on DIY section of Yankee Candle flagship stores in South Deerfield MA and Williamsburg VA. At Wax Works, wannabee Yankee Candle chandlers of all ages can try their hands (literally) at making candles and other wax products. Ella and her friends gathered in the party room adjacent to the Wax Works section of the store. When the party started, each of them was able to craft their own custom-scented jar candle, dip their own hanging candles, and create their own wax hand mold! It's great because the party fun became the party favor that they could take home with them. The kids had a blast and their creations were so memorable. I'm sure we'll be booking birthday number 8 there this year!

Yankee Candle Flagship Is a Candle Wonderland!

Far more than just a candle shop, the Yankee Candle Flagship Store in South Deerfield, MA is known as the "Mothership" to the company’s 160,000 facebook fans. For almost 30 years, candle enthusiasts have planned annual visits and weekend getaways to the site that began as a hard-working factory. Now home to 400,000 candles in more than 200 different fragrances, the flagship store is a unique, entertaining world of New England charm, fairy tale fantasies, and hands-on, interactive candlemaking that's fun for every age. With indoor snow showers each and every day, summertime is a great time to visit this candle wonderland!

Traveling through New England in the month of July? Be sure to visit the Yankee Candle Flagship Store from July 21-24 to be part of a very special event. The store will be taping a video and including as many candle fans as possible. Show up any of those mornings between 8-8:30 a.m. to participate in the video and receive a complimentary shopping discount for the store.
For more information, follow this link:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=139651812718374&ref=nf

The Secret to My Gardening Success

Several years ago, our family's garden was part of the local garden club's annual house tour. Having participated in those kinds of events as ticket-holding guests, my husband and I were certainly intimidated by the prospect wondering long and hard about whether our humble gardens would stack up against the rest. So many others had much greener thumbs and an expertise in a certain area: award-winning roses, clever raised beds, tranquil water features, etc. What could be our hook? What would make our amateur patch stand out? As I was lighting my Blue Hydrangea candle several days before the tour, inspiration struck: ours would be a highly fragrant garden! The day of the tour I methodically placed votive holders with Blue Hydrangea Samplers® candles throughout our gardens. Where it was safe to burn them (no overhanging flammable foliage) I lit them, but in most spots I let the warmth of the sun do its job dispersing the fragrance. Our garden was long-remembered as the best scented one on the tour!

Don’t Forget – Easter’s Early!

“Don’t Forget – Easter’s Early So Book Your Reservations Now!” That’s what the sign read when I drove past a restaurant this weekend and boy did it wake me up! I don’t need reservations because my sister Patty will be doing the honors for the family this year. I do, however, need Easter gifts and décor! No worries, a quick trip to Yankee Candle did the trick and now my house is fully outfitted and smelling spring-y just in time for the Easter Bunny’s arrival.

SET THE MOOD WITH A CUSTOM SCENT!

Want to know a secret to the success of all those red carpet events and lavish Hollywood parties? Celebrity party planners create the mood with custom scents developed especially for the occasion. The real secret is that you can do the same thing in your own home just by blending different candle scents.

At Yankee Candle we call it Fragrance Mixology, but you can call it the finishing touch that makes an ordinary event extraordinary!

To create your custom scent, you’ll first need to think about the theme for your occasion and then shop for fragrances that reinforce that theme. Once you’ve narrowed down your choice to 2 or 3 scents that sound like they’ll go well together you can have fun experimenting. If you use Tarts® wax potpourri, you can break them into pieces and add a little of each into the bowl of the warmer until you get the aroma that you like. (Be careful not to add too many pieces, you don’t want melted wax to drip out of the warmer!) If you use Samplers® votive candles, you can either use several holders throughout your entertaining space or you can buy a unique clover shaped holder at http://www.yankeecandle.com/ that will allow you to burn 3 votives together. You could even try blending scents with non-candle forms such as using a candle in one fragrance and an electric plug-in in another. The scents will mix as they waft through the air.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• For a Girl's Night, try an Appletini: Pineapple Cilantro + MacIntosh
• For a Baby Shower, try the scent of a New Born: Tahitian Tiare Flower + Baby Powder
• For a Sunday Brunch, try Wake Me Up: Café Au Lait + Cinnamon & Sugar + Hazelnut Coffee
  

You can see that the possibilities are endless – truly limited only by your own imagination. Have fun and let me know what custom scent you create!