Tag: Candle making

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Jackpot Candles Review

Jackpot Candles aren’t just any other jewelry candle. Nope, there’s a twist.

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They offer a large selection of candles and tarts in a multitude of scents and each one contains a little surprise inside.

But here’s the twist, you get to choose what your surprise is (pick from earrings, rings, and necklaces), and you have the option of selecting your ring size. Which is great if you’re like me and have man-hands. 

For me, choosing what I wanted was super easy. I’m a lover of anything cinnamon and an earring hoarder. So, I chose the Cinnamon Sensation candle (click here to see the candle I chose) with earrings as my jewelry of choice. Although, I was very tempted by the Caramel Coffee Latte scent. 

Less than a week after making my selection, my candle arrived. Not only was shipping super quick, but it was packaged very well. No chance of breakage here. Something that, as a constant online buyer/seller I can really appreciate. 

It took about 7 hours of burn time to reach the foil wrapped surprise in my candle, with me impatiently checking nearly every hour to see if it was visible yet. I had a really hard time restraining myself from speeding up the process and doing a little exploring, but I did. On their Tips page, Jackpot Candles actually recommends that you not do any digging for the hidden jewelry as it can cause your candle to tunnel or burn unevenly. 

There’s an upside to having to be patient: I was able to enjoy all of the cinnamon goodness for those hours.

Unlike a lot of other candles I’ve bought over the years, this one is strong. I could literally smell it in almost every room in the house. And since I was doing chores and milking goats during part of those 7 hours, every time I opened the door to come in I was met with a refreshing wave of cinnamon-ness that made me think of Christmas in February, snickerdoodles, and cinnamon lattes 🙂

Now, before I reveal my surprise, let me give you a little information about the candles and tarts:
They’re made in the USA.

They’re made from 100% natural soy wax, which means they have a clean burn that lasts longer than paraffin waxes. 

Soy wax is a renewable resource, so they’re sustainable. 

They are hand poured, and are made with a cotton wick, not lead. 

Each one contains a piece of jewelry worth anywhere from $15 to $5000. 

If your surprise is one of the more expensive pieces of jewelry and contains diamonds, they are conflict free. 

After 7 hours of burning, I finally reached the little foil wrapped package hidden inside. I blew the candle out, took a pair of tweezers out, and unwrapped my surprise.

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And ta-da!

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A pair of pink stud earrings. 

Included with each piece of jewelry is a little tag with an ID number. To find out how much your jewelry is worth, simply visit the Jackpot Candles’ Appraise page and type in the number.

I loved this feature, since it took all of the guesswork out of figuring out how much my jewelry was worth. 

My earrings were only worth $15, but they’re one of my favorite colors so I’m really happy with them!

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You can visit Jackpot Candles’ website here

Or check them out on social media. . . .

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services listed above complimentary in hopes that I would mention them on my blog. However, all opinions expressed are 100% my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s guidelines for reviews.
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Fire Starters.

It feels kind of weird doing a post about fire starters considering three things: I’m sitting here in shorts, the past weekend was so bright and summery, and being anywhere near the warmth of a fire is the furthest thing from my mind. But hey, you gotta work with what you’ve got and it is still winter. . . technically speaking.

Anyways, on to the subject of this post. Fire starters make great gifts, and the best thing is if you make candles and soap, you probably already have most of the materials. When I made these a couple of months (when we actually needed them lol) I used bits and pieces of things I already had on hand for soap making & candle making, plus a few items from the great outdoors.

Ingredients:
Wax (I had about a couple pounds left of soy wax, so I used that)
Wicks (I used these wicks here that were leftovers from candle making – with the metal tabs cut off, of course)
Fragrance and/or Essential Oil
Colorants safe for candle making (there are different types of colorants, but I like these best)
Kindling (such as dried herbs, flowers, evergreen needles, pine cones, cinnamon sticks, etc.*

*This is pretty much whatever you want to add that will burn safely. I’ve also seen shredded paper, wood shavings, dryer lint and many other things used. I made four different kinds of fire starters and each had slightly different additives (Apple Jack Peel, Out in the Woods, Lavender Lullaby, & French Hussy). Apple Jack Peel, for instance, had pieces of pine cones, whole cloves, anise seeds, and a cinnamon stick, while French Hussy contained dried lavender buds, chamomile, and rose petals. Out in the Woods, scented with pine essential oil, was one of my favorites, and contained pine needles, cedar needles, and pine cones.

1) Using a double boiler method, melt the wax. Use a thermometer to check the temperature until it’s at an optimum level to add the fragrance and colorant. Since I used soy wax, I added the fragrance and a small amount of colorant at 170F degrees. Stir until you have the fragrance and colorant thoroughly mixed into the wax, then stir a little more (you want to make sure the wax and fragrance bind completely together).

2) I used a silicon cupcake pan that is reserved strictly for soap and candle making, but I’ve seen these made in silicon brownie bites pans and in ice cube trays. Place your additives into each well, then insert the wicks.

3) Wait for the wax to cool to down to a pourable temperature (I pour at about 125F degrees). Then, pour the melted wax into each well of the pan.

4) Wait for the wax to harden, then pop them out of the mold.

To use: Simply light the wick and situate a fire starter beneath stacked wood in your fireplace.

Shared on:

The Chicken Chick


Posted on

Fire Starters.

It feels kind of weird doing a post about fire starters considering three things: I’m sitting here in shorts, the past weekend was so bright and summery, and being anywhere near the warmth of a fire is the furthest thing from my mind. But hey, you gotta work with what you’ve got and it is still winter. . . technically speaking.

Anyways, on to the subject of this post. Fire starters make great gifts, and the best thing is if you make candles and soap, you probably already have most of the materials. When I made these a couple of months (when we actually needed them lol) I used bits and pieces of things I already had on hand for soap making & candle making, plus a few items from the great outdoors.

Ingredients:
Wax (I had about a couple pounds left of soy wax, so I used that)
Wicks (I used these wicks here that were leftovers from candle making – with the metal tabs cut off, of course)
Fragrance and/or Essential Oil
Colorants safe for candle making (there are different types of colorants, but I like these best)
Kindling (such as dried herbs, flowers, evergreen needles, pine cones, cinnamon sticks, etc.*

*This is pretty much whatever you want to add that will burn safely. I’ve also seen shredded paper, wood shavings, dryer lint and many other things used. I made four different kinds of fire starters and each had slightly different additives (Apple Jack Peel, Out in the Woods, Lavender Lullaby, & French Hussy). Apple Jack Peel, for instance, had pieces of pine cones, whole cloves, anise seeds, and a cinnamon stick, while French Hussy contained dried lavender buds, chamomile, and rose petals. Out in the Woods, scented with pine essential oil, was one of my favorites, and contained pine needles, cedar needles, and pine cones.

1) Using a double boiler method, melt the wax. Use a thermometer to check the temperature until it’s at an optimum level to add the fragrance and colorant. Since I used soy wax, I added the fragrance and a small amount of colorant at 170F degrees. Stir until you have the fragrance and colorant thoroughly mixed into the wax, then stir a little more (you want to make sure the wax and fragrance bind completely together).

2) I used a silicon cupcake pan that is reserved strictly for soap and candle making, but I’ve seen these made in silicon brownie bites pans and in ice cube trays. Place your additives into each well, then insert the wicks.

3) Wait for the wax to cool to down to a pourable temperature (I pour at about 125F degrees). Then, pour the melted wax into each well of the pan.

4) Wait for the wax to harden, then pop them out of the mold.

To use: Simply light the wick and situate a fire starter beneath stacked wood in your fireplace.

Shared on:

The Chicken Chick


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Soy Candles

Remember back in June when the UPS man delivered a couple of packages (If you don’t, read Photo Shoot on the Farm). I’ve been meaning to do an update explaining what one of the packages was, but well, I’m a horrible procrastinator.

The mystery box contained supplies for my new favorite hobby. . . Candle Making. It’s just as addictive as soap making and almost as much as hatching (like I need another past time to be obsessed with lol). The best thing is that it’s super easy and not necessarily expensive to get started in.

You need:

  • Wax (I used soy wax)
  • Pretabbed wicks
  • Fragrance Oil
  • Containers (I used 8 oz jelly jars that I bought cheap from a dollar store)
  • Hot glue gun (Used to attach the wicks to the bottom of the jars)
  • Clothespins (Used to keep the wicks from falling over while the wax is being poured)
  • Pour Container (You can buy special pots for this, but I used a heat safe glass pitcher)
  • Metal lid (Placed underneath the pouring container to keep it from being in direct contact with the heat)
  • Saucepan (Used to heat the pouring container to melt the wax)
  • Candle colorant (It’s important to use a colorant that is intended for candle making – I used color blocks)
  • Scissors (To trim the wicks)
A few of the candles lined up on the baker’s rack.

So far, I’ve made Lemon Blossom, Victorian Rose, and Ocean Breeze scented candles, and I’m expecting two new fragrances (Cucumber Cantaloupe and Apple Jack Peel, along with more wicks and colorant) to be delivered tomorrow. Guess you know what I’ll be busy doing tomorrow.

By the way, this is the company that I’ve bought most of my fragrance oils from (as well as, wax, wicks, and color blocks): Nature’s Garden.

I’m completely amazed at all the different types of fragrances that they carry (Absinthe, Bacon, and Chocolate Raspberry, to name a few), and have already found so many more I want to try.