Thursday, March 10, 2011

candles, men & me

candles & matchboxes on barnwood shelf

When I decided to open a store, I said to myself, "no candles, no potpourri, no ruffles and flounces". I didn't want the kind of store that men run away from. Maybe it was on my mind because I have 3 sons or maybe just because I like simple primitive stuff (with exceptions of course). But that was pretty much my design plan--a store that men would like as much as women. (And no, we're not going to get into gender stereotypes and politics here. Just go with it please.) Anyway, candles. Somehow I had come up with a bad public image of them. There are a lot of icky overwhelming artificially scented ones out there. But I actually like candles--the glow on a winter night when I'm too lazy to build a fire is comforting. And the scents, when well done, are intoxicating.  So I went in search of candles for the store and got some cool ones from Skeem. The scents are light and pure and the designs of the containers are inspired by nature, thus perfect for my store, and they are reusable--you can put paper clips in them or cotton balls or anything that fits nicely in a small glass container with a tin top.

You can see some of them in this picture (especially if you click to enlarge). The one with the bird on top is white lotus, the octopus is wild orchid and the others are blood orange, guava persimmon and dune sage. The box with fish on it is one of the match boxes I bought too. See how I casually put it on the Fishes Golden Guide? I am feeling so clever. I just put them out--let's see if anyone buys them.

2 comments:

  1. GOT to have candles! since like you say, there are so many wonderful, cleaner ones out there now. My husband actually enjoys them too, his very favorite is Votivo's Provence Honey. I'll have to check out the Skeems though!

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  2. Oh Anne, I love Votivo too! And you're right--there many wonderful candles. My favorite last winter was Linnea's Fir. But do check out Skeem. They are lovely. My favorites right now is White Tea & Thyme and Guava Persimmon.

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