I like using candles year ’round, but especially at Christmas. They’re romantic. And I look better by candlelight. Trust me on this. Overhead lighting and I don’t get along. I like soft lighting for ambience. You can’t see that I didn’t dust, you don’t notice the hairballs (um, the hairballs aren’t mine, they belong, or belonged – before they fell off, to my furbabies, just so you understand I don’t have hairballs) and my wrinkles look blurry, like Doris Day in an old film. Soft and dreamy.  I use only white candles and usually unscented for the holidays.  I want the smell of Christmas in my home, the scent of evergreens, cookies baking, cider being mulled. But mostly that fresh cut Christmas tree scent. Which I don’t have. Since I have a fake tree. It’s dependable. And pre-lit. I’m lazy. Enough said. I don’t want scented candles to interfere with the smells of  my food, or compete with my perfume. Which I like. Nor do I want to give the impression that I live in a funeral home. All those flowery scents. So I use my trusty Scensty burners and use a scent called “Festival Of Trees.”  Smells like Christmas to me, plus I can turn it off just before it gets over powering, and guests arrive. They think I have a real tree!  So I use plain candles. I vary my Scentsy scents (Is that a tongue twister?) So I can use the scent of cookies baking without actually baking. A bonus. Or the smell of mulled cider. Which I don’t mull. So don’t come to my house lookin for fresh baked cookies or a cup of hot mulled cider. JUST KIDDING! We offer fresh baked cookies all the time and there’s hot mulled cider or mulled wine.  Mr B does that part. (I look even younger if you’ve had a bit of mulled wine. By candlelight. )  I just take care of the fake smells. And Christmas crafts.

(Nice segue, huh?)  Last year I wanted to line our walkway with candles similar to luminarias without the threat of starting a lawn fire. I bought the pillar candles in glass.  The ones used in church and religious ceremonies. I like the ones at Target, they don’t have the sticky decals on them that I’d have to remove. Did I say I’m lazy?? And cheap? These things cost less than two bucks. To jazz them up a bit I wrapped them in gift wrap and tied some ribbon on. Easy peasy. You don’t even need to remove the small bar code label, it will be hidden. I didn’t use them outside after all, they were too cute. I used the plain, naked ones outside. But my dressed up cute ones came in the house.

I wanted to do that again this year but I decided to use old book and dictionary pages instead of gift wrap. You can use your favorite photos for this as well, but definitely use copies, not original photos.  I have a vintage book with darling art work in it. I found a page with the image of a bird, surrounded with ivy and holly. It looked like Christmas. I made a copy on my computer to use. I couldn’t bear to cut up that book. Besides, if I made a mistake (which was likely to happen due to my measuring abilities, or lack thereof, ) I’d still have the book and could just make another copy. I highly recommend that you use this method if you are using anything other than gift wrap.

The process is simple. Measure or eyeball the width of paper you need to go around the candle, plus about 1/2 inch for over lap. Cut your paper to those dimensions. I use a paper cutter for straight edges. (Unless I’m really lazy and then scissors will do). Place a piece of double sided tape along back side of one edge of your paper and adhere the paper to your candle. (you can also use a glue stick but I find the double sided tape is easier for me.)  Make sure your paper seam is at the back of your candle and covers up the price bar code. Just wrap the paper snugly around your candle and adhere a second piece of tape on the backside of the paper, overlap the edges and press down to seal. (You don’t have to tape the top or bottom edges). Tie some ribbon or twine on it.  Annnd Voila! (I really like using that word, it suggests magic has happened). Instant charm. Speaking of charm, if the ribbon/twine isn’t enough, use old keys, buttons, or any other bits or bobs you may have. This whole project takes about 5 minutes for each candle once you get your rhythm  going.  This is a great idea for teacher gifts,, you can make these with your kids and personalize them with the paper you choose. The longest amount of time is getting your supplies together. And then cleaning up. I hate that part. I enjoy getting my supplies OUT, I just don’t care for the putting back part.

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