A Valentine's candle for your flame

With less than two weeks left until the big day, are you looking for some inexpensive and unusual gifts or accessories for a romantic dinner? Are you a candlelit dinner's aficioando? Candles always set the scene and make the table setting that little bit extra special (and you won't see the dust bunnies in the corners either).

The candle stamping technique is easy, and you can personalise your candles to your taste.

The original project of a stamped angel candle was created by my friend Lana George whose work has been published by Craft Stamper extensively. Her project appeared in Craft Stamper (January 2009), and it is a beatiful and delicate Christmas candle. I have changed the theme, but followed her step-by-step tutorial which I reproduce here in my own words, with kind permission from Lana.

To make this Valentine's Day candle you will need the following materials:
1 pillar candle
Love Is (IndigoBlu) stamp or any other heart stamp
Stazon (in fuchsia pink) ink
white tissue paper
a piece of parchment or greaseproof paper
pins
heat gun/embossing tool


I got my candle from Waitrose for £1.75.

Take a piece of a tissue paper (I literally raided the box of balsam Kleenex, you need one layer of two). Stamp the heart using Stazon ink.

Cut out the heart shape from the tissue (leaving about 1cm border around it) and tightly wrap around the pillar candle.
Cut a piece of the parchment paper and wrap around the tissue. Secure in place with dress pins (see the image below).

Using a heat gun or an embossing tool, gently heat the surface of the candle. Keep moving the heat gun, as you don't want the wax to melt too deeply (I mean, who would want holes in a Valentine's heart). The heat will melt the wax, and the tissue paper will get absorbed by the candle. Unpin the parchment paper and check that the tissue paper has been absorbed evently. If there are some bits slightly more on the surface, just give it another quick heat wave.

And that's it. You have a unique candle that would look like you have spent a lot of time on creating it. You can also add some Swarowski pearls as an extra decoration to the candle.

Recreate an Orange Grove in Winter

I wish I could create an olfactory video review so that you can discover yourselves what I am trying to describe in words. We all have olfactory memories, and Christmas time for me is forever associated with the aroma of mandarins and oranges. In the time when the fruit was seasonal and haven't been in the shops all year round, some of the first manadarins appeared around this time of the year and every time I smell this beautiful fruit, I think of the Christmas trees of my childhood days. The White Company has a variety of candles to appeal to all tastes, but they couldn't find a better one for me than Orange Grove Signature Candle.
Do you like the smell of the orange peel and green leaves? That's what you get, when you light the candle. The aroma is very delicate and subtle, which I absolutely love. I cannot stand strong-smelling candles which are so overpowering they give you a headache. You get the earthy and woody rich notes underfoot, and sultry bergamot strikes a cord with its classic touch.
The Orange Grove is warming and zesty at the same time.

This signature candle (as well as all the candles in their range) is "individually hand poured in the UK using high quality wax and fragrance. The 140gs of wax gives approx 28 hours of burning."
Each candle is Gift boxed. The packaging is very stylish. It is a black and white box, a Bond-girl type of packaging, sleek and expensive-looking. At £20 per candle it is not cheap, but it is oh so excellent as a Christmas gift.

It wouldn't be Christmas without a festive candle. Christmas is known as a time of indulgence, and this candle would impress even the most harsh critic.