with two fourth graders, a shaggy black dog, and my handsome bearded *fiance’* ❤
Category Archives: happy
and we’re live!
*and we sold our first one already 🙂
many, many MANY more to come
it’s just that we hand-pour them in small batches
in ze basement
after the boy is tucked in bed
so …’small batches’!
happy Christmas – happy day!
CandleSchmandle
hey look – it’s a …sneak peak at our new venture
see, the thing is. we love mason jars.
they’re wicked cool to look at. they’re versatile. you can put flowers in ’em or drink sweet tea out of ’em. etc. etc. etc.
and so…we decided, in the interest of being eco-friendly and reusing things, our love for lovely smelling candles and beautiful mason jars, & fun and craftiness here in our New England lakefront secret candle Lab-or-a-tory…
to embark upon a candle-making adventure!
I mean – we have our solar lights, and they’ve done marvelously all summer long – but hey, it’s autumn..winter’s coming…and these lovely candles give off so much warmth and light and glowy goodness, you won’t believe it.
small batches, hand poured – 100% soy, no dye, all-cotton wicks, luscious skin-safe botanical oil fragrances…
and it’s one more crafty, fun, world-bettering thing I get to do with my BFF! and our house smells like a yummy candle factory!
so there ya go. they illuminate. they aromify. you’ll love them at first light.
AND when you’re all done with the candle – wash the soy out with water and soap..
and use the mason jar(s) to your heart’s content! reduce, reuse, recycle!
AND part two of our candle-making-adventure…
when we’re at estate sales/yard sales/thrift stores/freecycling by the side of the road, etc…we often run across a wicked cool vintage GLASS that’s all alone, or a PLANTER that’s adorable, or a BOWL that’s not part of a set, a random thing we love but can’t figure out what it is and therefore won’t sell at our etsy shop, etc – and …well, at some point, we started thinking, “heyyyyyyy that would make a cute candle!”
and you know what? they DO make cute candles!
and – again – when the candle’s all done, simply wash them out (really, soy is SO easy to wash out! nothing like paraffin!) and use them as cups, as button holders, as spittoons, whatever you like!!
see? double eco-friendly! used at one point in time by someone else…
repurposed into a candle for YOU to use to yummify your home…
and then re-repurposed into something ELSE by you! jewelry box, sugar packet bowl, change jar, *eek* condom holder, what-have-you!
We’re still working on getting everything ready – so nothing’s available at the shop yet ( candleschmandle.com ), but they will be soon!
some of the scents we’ll have available are…*drum roll*
violet lime : peanut butter & jelly : pumpkin souffle’ : apples & maple bourbon : antique sandalwood : white tea : blueberry muffin : juicy juicy watermelon : Christmas tree…and lots more!
so there you have it – what we’ve been up to lately!
oh, also, it SNOWED LAST NIGHT. yesh. October 27. snow snow snow on the ground ground ground.
hullllooooo I am still enjoying the fall leaves! you are trying to confuse me, Weather God. Please maybe hold off on the snow for a bit longer. I mean. It’s purty. But …so is autumn! sniff.
over and out –
janet
sweet home ala-chusetts
we had an amazing 10-day, 13-state trip down south and back up again
seein’ friends and family, seein’ Rock City and Ruby Falls
pettin’ roosters and holdin’ babies
eatin’ BBQ and homemade ice cream
feedin’ turtles and ..sweating.
drivin’ sleepin’ laughin’ talkin’
acquiring many new acquisitions for our little etsy shops
and so on and so forth
and we made it home and Noah started school and William’s had several weeks off work
and even though it’s too cold to swim in the lake anymore, the leaves are turning and falling
and we’re enjoying hiking and bike rides and apple festivals
and the Cosby show from start to finish, thankyouverymuch Netflix
(and Arrested Development from start to finish after the boy’s in bed) (YAY coming back to us! http://www.tmz.com/2011/10/02/arrested-development-television-show-one-more-season-mitch-hurwitz-ron-howard/)
sunny and 81 today, I better back away from this computer slowly…
– janet
every day we’re shuff-a-lin
annnnd we’re off! (tomorrow morning at stupid early o’clock)
shufflin’ off on our end-of-summer road trip to see family all over – Alabama, Georgia, Pennsylvania, etc
and hopefully some of the quirky awesomeness America has to offer along the way
here’s to making happy summer memories with a boy, a dog, a mini-van and a couple of cameras
wish me luck getting the boy to ead fried rattlesnake!
peace out, New England – see you next week sometime –
janet
[actually, I’ve never tried rattlesnake. good luck getting ME to try it!]
rattlesnale recipe:
| SOUTHERN FRIED RATTLESNAKE | |
|
1 egg
salt to taste 1 tsp. minced garlic 1 tsp. seasoning salt mix 3/4 cup milk 1 tsp. pepper flour 1 rattlesnake Cut snake meat into 4 inch lengths. Beat egg and milk. Mix spices with flour in a separate bowl. Preheat deep fat fryer with cooking oil. Dip snake into egg mixture and then in flour mixture and place it in hot oil. Cook until golden brown and crispy like fried fish. Serve with french fries. |
|
let’s hear it for the boy(s)
one or two photos of what Noah’s been up to..
(mostly with his dad and with his bff James…I’m generally the one behind the camera!)
(yes, I’m aware boys don’t call each other bff, shush)
antiquing with us! (he found an antique teenage mutant ninja turtle 🙂
eating spongebob ice creams off the ice cream truck til their tongues turn black
swmming! and taking it seriously. mmhmm
having knee-board ‘races’ wherein no one gets more than two feet from shore, no matter HOW furiously they paddle
…falling off knee boards…
and falling off again…
towing each other around in the lake!
hiking (and looking quite handsome with) with dad and optimus prime
exploring the Boston Museum of Science ^
learning how to make his own lunch!
getting a painful boo boo in the lake =(
watching movies with friends
playin guitar:
eatin pizza ^
and wading in rivers…
taking in GORGEOUS views in NH and VT..
taking photos of photographers..
& ridin waves, catchin tan, growing freckles, chasing crabs, tossing frisbees, etc…at the beach
and more and more and more and more
that child never stops! I love him!
only 25 days of summer left!
(only sixteen days til my birthday!)
happy Thursday, happy August, happy summer youse guys!
– janet
simple things turn magical
hey, it’s what we do!
we rescue vintage used and unused canning jars from
– estate sales
– rummage sales
– tag sales
– garage sales
– yard sales
– side of the road
– basements
– falling-down-barns
etc.
some are Atlas, some are Ball, all are vintage and a bit forlorn – they were just waiting for someone to come along and lovingly repurpose, up-cycle, turn them into something prettily charming that non-canners such as ourselves can enjoy and treasure for a long, long time.
so we take them home and we use a bit of paper, a bit of imagination, and a bit of solar power and voilà! the sweetest, brightest, sassiest decorations you’ll ever have on your deck
or at your party
at your wedding
in your yard
as a night-light
and so on…
just set them outside during the day and let them soak up the sun.
delight in the stained glass aspect they so gorgeously smack of
…and then as night falls you and yours can bask in the firefly-esque glow!
why?
– LED solar lights are safer than other types of lights because they don’t produce heat and aren’t wired to an electrical source
– LED life expectancy typically exceeds 25 years, based on running 10 hours every night
– they do not contain mercury, so easier to dispose of when they do burn out.
– so pretty!
some are decoupaged for JUST the look and color and theme a customer wants
some are left beautifully plain to capture the simple feel of mason jars at dusk
either way, we love them, we have tons of them lighting up OUR humble yard, and we enjoy the heck out of making them together.
cleverwhatever 
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