First things First, I guess. This is apt to be one of those long rambling posts. If you’re going to stick around, grab your favorite beverage and whatever else helps you relax, put up your feet up and settle in.
Secondly, Onyasapothecary.com no longer exists.
I’m still making candles…duh. That site has closed. I got tired of maintaining the two sites, it was daunting. The expense was minimal but I can still do without it. BUT mostly, I got tired of separating myself into different boxes so that people would ‘understand’ and ‘like’ me better.
I am me. I do lots of different creative witchy things. Get used to it.
In other words, I’m slowly bringing Onya’s Apothecary to lisabethdarling.com where it always belonged along with my photography and genealogy and all of those other things I fought so hard to keep separate from each other for the above really dumb reasons. I am also trying to work on writing and am, at least, getting my toes wet back in marketing again. If you haven’t checked out the home page of the site in a while maybe take a pop over and give it a glance.
Anyway, I’ve been looking at a lot of candles. I mean a lot. Most of them are very lovely. Lots of them are extremely artsy. Some, especially for the Pagan Community, are a little gimmicky. I don’t want to make candles that make people say “it’s too lovely to burn”. Because that defeats the whole point of making the candle. So, I’m trying to stick with practical but elegant and slightly whimsical here and there but, in the end, are beautiful but burnable. You don’t feel bad setting a match to it.
After making the Super Moon Candles, I turned my attention slowly to making Yule Candles. Before that, I have a bunch of 8oz glass holders and 3.5 oz metal tins to fill and put up for sale. I’ll do that whenever I feel like it, maybe this weekend. I don’t intend to wait for the Full Moon for those.
But, Yule, that’s different. I want something special. I love vintage glass. A few days ago I came across this bowl in the cupboard.
I thought; Oh! That will make a lovely 5 wick candle, with the wicks in the shape of the points of the star. Maybe a sprig of holly or pine? Perhaps a small acorn? So, I dug it out and put it aside.
I spent some time looking at my glass collection from the corner of my eye here and there and landed on these two.
#1
#2
I absolutely love the first one. It has a twin around here somewhere but I’ll be damned if I can find it. The second is cute, I knew it wasn’t worth anything without looking it up but it would still make a nice candle.
Today, as I was putzing around with the above, cleaning them, measuring how much wax they would hold, and looking up their value. Fate made me look in one cabinet and then, quite simply, to my left.
#3
Cabinet find. This sucker holds a whopping half gallon of wax!
#4
What was on my direct left and has been sitting there for eons, right next to me, unloved but still appreciated even through the thick layer of dust. Off and on, I use it as an incense burner. I KNOW it’s a vase, you don’t have to tell me that. I knew it before I looked it up. I thought; Oh! That would be adorable!
Yes, “looking it up”. Oh, Gods! How I love Google Image Search. It makes finding information and the value of the glass so easy.
Ok…so….
#1 is Soga/(Mikasa) SAVOIR VIVRE pattern
It holds 12oz of wax
It was made around 1980
It’s worth between $25-$35.
Not bad. So pretty!
#2 is EO Brody floral dish, very common, mass produced.
It holds 12 oz of wax
It’s worth between $5-$10.
#3 is Lancaster Class Co.–Pink Petal pattern-Three Foot Fruit Bowl
It holds an incredible 64oz of wax!
It is depression glass made in the 1930s
It is worth $30-$50
Not too bad–I don’t think I will ever pour this one! That is a crapton of wax! I cannot imagine what the shipping charge would look like should someone who is not local buy it.
#4 is Viking Glass Co. Flowerrite footed glass vase with silver flower overlay and fitted stem holder frog.
It holds about 10oz of wax
It was made in the 1930s
Google informed me the bowl is worth about $70.
THEN Google looked at me and whispered; Oh, BTW, Lisa, since you have the lid and it’s all in such awesome condition….AT LEAST $200!
That ain’t too shabby, baby! Especially not for something that has been sitting next to me for decades, largely unnoticed, and unused.
I am no longer sure I want to make a candle out of it. I put it on the mantle.
If I do make a candle out of it, I don’t imagine anyone will pay me just what the glass is worth, so I’d have to do it for myself.
In any event, 10lbs of coconut wax arrived yesterday. A package from Amazon will arrive today with Christmas presents and a pack of white candle dye.
Yes. White.
When I do those swirl candles again I want that white to be blindingly white against the center color to get a real pop. I also think, given that they’re Yule Candles, the extra white will be reminiscent of snow and make the stones in them glisten all the more. Oh, yeah, I’m not using any other color dyes in the Yule Candles–strange they all turned out to be vintage glass bowls, isn’t it? Very weird.
Stones will arrive next week. Hate me all you want but I love Temu for the stones. I got so many friggin’ stones for $40.00! I could never get that anywhere else and some of them are shaped; moon, star, sun, mushrooms, and more. So cute! Others are oval with what I hope are nice flat backs so they’ll lay well on the top of the candles.
I suppose I’ll be back to let you know how it goes.
Lisa Beth Darling 