Fifty Two Shades of Shay: Candles

What?  I'm doing an entire post on candles?  Yes.  Yes, I am.  And if you've ever been in my home, you understand why.  Let me lay some groundwork for you...

1. I always have a candle lit in my house.  When I wake up, I light one.  When I come home from running errands, I light one.  I always want my house to smell delicious.

2. I buy candles with seasonal scents because it gets me in the mood for that season...winter, spring, summer and fall...every season has a scent in my opinion, and I have a corresponding candle to go with it.

3. When we moved into the rent house a few months ago, I had to make one trip in my car with just my candles.  This is not an exaggeration.  I stock up on candles, hoard them, whatever you want to call it...it  required its own trip.

4. Growing up, my mom always had a candle lit and nice music playing in the house.  It just made our home feel homey.  I want my kids to feel that way too.  Smells are so powerful!  I want my kids to remember their mom's house the way I remember my mom's.

5. I use unscented candles in the dining room when I serve food...because the food should be the star.

6. I'm a candle snob.  There.  I said it.  I am.  Maybe not a snob...maybe, I'm a connoisseur.  I'm not wasting my money on candles that don't give off good results.  I buy certain types and stay away from others.  Here are my favorite brands...

Hands down, my favorite brand of candle is Circle E Candles.  I've even been to their factory (which is about 4 hours from my house) at least 6 times.  Hear me now...I am not getting free candles or compensated in any way for telling you about them.  I just absolutely love their candles.  Their candles smell terrific, the scents really do make a room smell nice without being too light or too powerful and they burn for a long time.  They are WONDERFUL!  You can find them in some boutiques, but I just always order them online and have them shipped to my house.  They arrive quickly and are never broken.  This box was delivered to my house last week...let's just say, they are delivered to the Shull house pretty frequently... 

These two scents are on the "discontinued" page...so, they're at a great price.  I loooooove them!

The Country Morning scent (on the right) smells like pumpkin spice.  Need I say more?

These two scents are perfect for summer.

Their best selling scent is Bird of Paradise which would be great for Summer too!

If I'm not buying a Circle E Candle, I'm buying one of these...

...a Bath and Body Works candle.  I used to not like Bath and Body Works candles because they smelled great in the jar but didn't have a lot of scent once lit.  However, now...they have changed.  Their candles really are delicious and I buy them pretty frequently.  One thing about Bath and Body Works...try and buy their candles when they go on sale (which is pretty frequently).  Their large 3 wick candles are normally priced at $20 each but at least once or twice a month, they go on sale to $10 or $11 a piece.  When that happens...stock up!  They also come in other smaller sizes too.  The next time you swing by to pick up bath products, grab you a candle!

The next time you're home...even if you're home by yourself, light a candle.  Dim the lights a bit, turn on a lamp, pour yourself a cup of coffee, grab a good book and relax.  It doesn't take much to make a home feel homey...but in my opinion, it does require a candle.

Dinner tonight at the Mama's house... Sundried Tomato and Spinach Burgers...yum!