"The Country Store" traditional food, country crafts, natural decorations. By Stephanie Donaldson, hardcover 160 pages, new, read once. Brief summary of the book- Introduction, history and traditions of the Country store, how to prepare, use and display provisions. Recipes for Flavored vinegars, pickles and chutneys. Flavored butters, Savory preserves and sauces, flavored salts and peppers. Herbs and spice mixes, flavored mustards, jams- jellies, and honeys. Candied fruits, preserved fruits, preserved vegetables, syrups, cordials and liqueurs. Teas/tisanes, baked goods, and breads. Sweetmeats and candies. Make cosmetics, herbal infusions, rosewaters, essential oils. This is only half the book. Mixing oils (explainations) bath bags, scrubs, dusting powders (all of these are recipes). Creams, cleansers, skin tonics, hand creams, tonics, (recipes). Potpourri recipes, room freshners, burners, how to make-scented sachets and bags (recipes). Natural remedies and medicines... Scented polishes (recipes) beeswax and turpentine polish. Candles (beeswax instructions). Garland and Swags instructions on how to make 'natural' arrangements. Basket dried flowers..instructions. Treats for birds too! Easter recipes...hot cross buns, Easter eggs, Halloween-pumpkin pie, harvest loaf-recipes, herb cornbreads, and sooo much more! Tired of typing, LOL. All this in one book-- Make an offer of- Seeds, bulbs, gourdhouse bird houses (painted) or regular birdhouse? Deb

Interesting topic Wanda and thanks for the instructions on how to carve out a pillar. I've usually just let them burn enough to make a well to hold a real tealight then messed around with a knife but your way sounds much neater. :-) I burn real tealights, votives, tapers, then pillars in that order of frequency but tealights the most. I have a bazillion tealight holders (ys finds) and feel they are safer than tapers with the cats. I like the beeswax or soya the best altho have a lifetime supply of paraffin ones but mostly use them outdoors in the summer. Ikea has the best quality paraffin tealights for the lowest price IMO and sell in bags of 100 for about $3 on sale ($4-something regular) and I've also bot them at YS's for even less. I do have some battery ones I got a few years ago for the RV (for safety) but wasn't impressed with the appearance of the flame altho I've been told they have improved so should give them a try again. I like the idea of remote control pillars as I have the same accessibility problem on my mantel. I'd like to use them as there are convection currents because of the stove and my beeswax tapers dripped on the silk poinsettias at Christmas.

It seems to me that some of the candle suppliers, like Bittercreek, have some instructions on how to make different kinds of candles, and I remember seeing Grungy Candles. You might check some of the popular candle supply websites for recipes/instructions. Susan

We always light the candles on our table every night at dinner. We purchase a good quality, non scented candle, usually Colonial Candles of Cape Cod. There are very specific instructions for safely burning a candle and rather then risk listing them all I linked them below. I don't want to sound like an alarmist but while candles can cause fires it's really about 4% of home fires and most of those occurred in a bedroom when the occupants fell asleep with the candles burning. Smoking is the number one cause of residential fires followed by cooking and electrical problems. Why don't you light some this afternoon and see how you feel about it when no one else is there. Since you don't normally burn candles you still might not feel comfortable having them lit when your company comes especially since you'll be busy serving as hostess. If you do decide to lit them you could ask a trusted friend to help keep an eye on them. Personally I love burning candles but we don't have pets or kids and we only burn them in the same room that we are in so that we can keep an eye on them. Obviously there are no combustibles near, we keep the wicks trimmed, votive candles are in appropriate holders, we avoid drafts etc. Here is a link that might be useful: candle safety tips