Candle Math
This may only be of interest to candle whores and Hellenic folks, so I'll use a cut.
So, I keep a candle burning nearly constantly for Hestia in the hearth. I use seven-day candles, which actually burn about 5 days. They're in glass, in the fireplace, with the glass doors closed, so I never have to worry about drafts, the cat, or other hazardous accidents.
I still get a discount at Fragrance World on candles, but even with the discount, the total adds up over the year. The wax is the lowest quality I've ever seen, and I'm running out of space for the darn glass containers, which can be recycled or re-used, if I could just figure out some clever ways to repurpose them. Hell, if zylch and I keep doing it this way, we can build Gaia's new home with 8" thick walls made of shiny glass cylinders mortared together. Hmmm... no.
I decided to sit down and actually look at the economics of the practice. So, let's say I'm using 75 candles a year. This is padding it a wee bit, but it's a nice easy number. If I get the candles for $36 for a case of 12, that's $225 a year. Don't get me wrong, Hestia is worth it, but these are crappy candles for the money. Can't I do better?
For $100, I can invest in some molds and equipment, and I can probably get blocks of paraffin for $1/lb, if I get enough to make my candles for a year. So in the first year, it might cost almost as much as what I'm currently paying, but by the second year I'm only paying for the wax, which means I'm only paying about $75/year to keep myself in candles. (A candle mold that will make a pillar candle that will *fit inside the glass cylinders I have in abundance* uses a convenient 1 lb of wax.) Or, I can pour directly into the glass cylinders I have, but that means keeping a lot more of the cylinders around. I'd like to make molded pillars that can be slipped into the cylinders, and only keep a handful of cylinders, and recycle/re-purpose the rest.
And these candles will be made with decent wax, hand-made, and blessed as a labor of love, rather than a factory-manufactured item. I can also judiciously use my Home Alchemy Kit and scent the candles for each 'holiday season' with a custom blended fragrance -- Liquid Sex for Beltane, Yuletide Blessings for Yule, etc. I can decorate some of the glass cylinders for each of the seasons, and have beautiful, customized hearth candles for Hestia. Or I can scent the candles with frankincense and bay laurel, mix some olive oil into the wax, and inscribe the candles with ancient hymns to Hestia. Or anything, really! BWA HA HA HA!
Well, damn. Sounds like a plan. And zylch (or anyone else), if you want to get in on this game, I can make you some custom hearth candles for like half of what Mr. K at Fragrance World will charge, and there's less waste, better wax, and so forth. I'll charge a bit for labor, but it'll still be less expensive, better quality, and less waste.
Hrm. I wonder what a one-year supply of consecrated, priestess-made candles with custom-blended scents, and 12 hand-decorated artisan candleholders would go for on eBay? Nah, that's probably just being mercenary.
So, I keep a candle burning nearly constantly for Hestia in the hearth. I use seven-day candles, which actually burn about 5 days. They're in glass, in the fireplace, with the glass doors closed, so I never have to worry about drafts, the cat, or other hazardous accidents.
I still get a discount at Fragrance World on candles, but even with the discount, the total adds up over the year. The wax is the lowest quality I've ever seen, and I'm running out of space for the darn glass containers, which can be recycled or re-used, if I could just figure out some clever ways to repurpose them. Hell, if zylch and I keep doing it this way, we can build Gaia's new home with 8" thick walls made of shiny glass cylinders mortared together. Hmmm... no.
I decided to sit down and actually look at the economics of the practice. So, let's say I'm using 75 candles a year. This is padding it a wee bit, but it's a nice easy number. If I get the candles for $36 for a case of 12, that's $225 a year. Don't get me wrong, Hestia is worth it, but these are crappy candles for the money. Can't I do better?
For $100, I can invest in some molds and equipment, and I can probably get blocks of paraffin for $1/lb, if I get enough to make my candles for a year. So in the first year, it might cost almost as much as what I'm currently paying, but by the second year I'm only paying for the wax, which means I'm only paying about $75/year to keep myself in candles. (A candle mold that will make a pillar candle that will *fit inside the glass cylinders I have in abundance* uses a convenient 1 lb of wax.) Or, I can pour directly into the glass cylinders I have, but that means keeping a lot more of the cylinders around. I'd like to make molded pillars that can be slipped into the cylinders, and only keep a handful of cylinders, and recycle/re-purpose the rest.
And these candles will be made with decent wax, hand-made, and blessed as a labor of love, rather than a factory-manufactured item. I can also judiciously use my Home Alchemy Kit and scent the candles for each 'holiday season' with a custom blended fragrance -- Liquid Sex for Beltane, Yuletide Blessings for Yule, etc. I can decorate some of the glass cylinders for each of the seasons, and have beautiful, customized hearth candles for Hestia. Or I can scent the candles with frankincense and bay laurel, mix some olive oil into the wax, and inscribe the candles with ancient hymns to Hestia. Or anything, really! BWA HA HA HA!
Well, damn. Sounds like a plan. And zylch (or anyone else), if you want to get in on this game, I can make you some custom hearth candles for like half of what Mr. K at Fragrance World will charge, and there's less waste, better wax, and so forth. I'll charge a bit for labor, but it'll still be less expensive, better quality, and less waste.
Hrm. I wonder what a one-year supply of consecrated, priestess-made candles with custom-blended scents, and 12 hand-decorated artisan candleholders would go for on eBay? Nah, that's probably just being mercenary.