In case people haven’t guessed I visited my local candle shop in the weekend. It’s called RETREAT and for those who live in New Zealand, they have stores in Glenfield, Newmarket, Sylvia Park and Manukau.
1. Candles convey messages of warmth, romance, spirituality and brightness and they are embraced by lots of different creeds, religions and nationalities.
2. The Egyptians have been credited with soaking reeds in animal fats for rushlights. But the truth is all civilizations have a history of illumination.
3. Tealights are tiny candles, encased in a thin metal or plastic cover. The candle liquifies totally while lit and burn times can vary from four to nine hours.
4. Votives need to be placed inside a tight-fitting holder to maximise burn times.
5. Pillars are free-standing and are long-burning, available in a round or square shape. They can have multiple wicks and are excellent for grouping with other sizes and accessorizing to add the final touches to home or office.
6. Floating candles create light in a bowl, fountain or pool. These are specially designed to float on water.
7. Do not leave a burning candle unattended.
8. Trim candlewick to 5mm EACH time before burning.
9. Burn for 1 hour per 2cm in diameter. Noe: a candle has a memory. That is, it will only burn to the same diameter it was last burnt to.
10. Candles make great decorations and provide good mood lighting, but cleaning up dried wax drippings is never fun. Here’s a video about removing candle wax.
11. Never touch or move a burning candle when the wax is liquid. That means not playing with a burning candle, Mr. Munro. 
12. Flickering candles are one of the simplest and yet most magical ways of adding atmosphere to a scene. Ask your local candle shop about home decorating, color coordination, aromatheraphy, home fragrancing and everything candle. They’re the experts! The staff at RETREAT are certainly very knowledgable.
13. Think about personalised candles for a gift. RETREAT will design special candles for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, memorials, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s day and any other special event. They can be decorated with text, ribbon, graphics and photos. Your imagination is the only limit.
What do you think about candles? Do you like them? Do you have candles in your house?
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February 28th, 2008 at 2:25 am · Link
About the not leaving a candle unattended… Boy, isn’t that the truth!!!
I kept telling my hubby not to leave the candle burning in the bathroom, but he wouldn’t listen to me. Last weekend, just after I said to him – “Shouldn’t you put out the candle?” we heard a “kapow!”
It had burned all the way down, of course, and exploded the glass container. (My favorite one, too…
) However, the wick landed in the (plastic) work-sink, and since he (in his infinite wisdom) had added the stubs of two candlesticks, the flames were a foot tall and melting the sink itself.
…sigh… Who needs kids? I’m married!
February 28th, 2008 at 4:36 am · Link
Huh. Candles have a better memory than me. Scary…
February 28th, 2008 at 5:12 am · Link
Great T13, Shelley! I love candles. Colors, odors. I don’t care… I’ll buy them. Hehehe! I have candles all around the house. And yes I lit them at night, so I don’t have to turn on the lights because their soft warm light is enough. Heh!
February 28th, 2008 at 6:46 am · Link
What a great TT topic! I heart candles so much…they add a warm ambiance to any setting!
February 28th, 2008 at 6:55 am · Link
I love candles too. Although I like to play with hot wax. LOL-not like that (maybe
)
I used to take the wax from my moms candles and sculpt it like clay-making teensy little ugly works of art lol Drove everyone crazy.
They still dont let me play with candles :)
February 28th, 2008 at 7:53 am · Link
Cool info. I had no idea candles had a memory.
February 28th, 2008 at 8:02 am · Link
*happy sigh* I love candles. I just sent off a basket of candles for my contest winner.
GREAT post, Shelley.
February 28th, 2008 at 9:49 am · Link
Cool facts!
*hugs*
Paige
My TT is at http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/
February 28th, 2008 at 10:20 am · Link
I love candles and this reminds me that I don’t burn them often enough. *sigh* I need to fix this especially since the kids SHOULD be old enough to behave responsibly around them.
Happy TT!
February 28th, 2008 at 10:25 am · Link
I had no idea they have memory. So if I only burn a pool of a half inch diameter and it could have gone to and inch and a half, next time I’m still stuck with a half inch?
February 28th, 2008 at 11:32 am · Link
So Mr. Munro is not suppose to play with liquid wax? And here I though erotica writers were kinky.
February 28th, 2008 at 12:15 pm · Link
I only light candles on our kitchen table. With a crazy calico cat and two young children, candles are just too much of a hazard. Happy TT.
February 28th, 2008 at 12:19 pm · Link
Interesting and informative post ~ candles definitely come in handy when the power goes out for several hours. I didn’t know they have a memory, though.
February 28th, 2008 at 12:32 pm · Link
MsMenozzi – ah, yes. The inner child syndrome. It hits quite often in our house.
Gina – my thoughts were similar, except I was thinking about me, not you!
Tempest/Rhonda – I have to agree. Candles are so great and perfect for every occasion.
RG – I’m not letting you loose with my hubby. Between the two of you, you’d burn the house down.
Debbie – I know. Interesting, isn’t it?
February 28th, 2008 at 12:39 pm · Link
Jennifer – what a great prize. I’m sure your winner will love them.
Paige – Happy TT!
Kaige – yes, kids and candles. Not such a good mix.
Alice – yes, that’s mostly how it works. The big fat candles you need to burn for quite a while the first time so their memory is wide. That’s why you’re sometimes left with a big circle of wax.
Gabriele – kinky, maybe, but he’s still not allowed to play with candles.
Pussreboots – I can imagine. We have a dog, who at least stays on the ground. Cats are so inquisitive. Maybe when the children are a little older…
Heather – the irony is whenever the power goes off I have to think about where the candles are, or I’ve run out!
February 28th, 2008 at 12:43 pm · Link
Great TT!
February 28th, 2008 at 2:54 pm · Link
Nice! I loooooove candles. Thanks for reminding me I need to go candle shopping. Another thing, I always have candles in my stories too. Fire is an element I’m drawn to and it really does set the mood. Lovely TT Shelley!
~Gwen
February 28th, 2008 at 3:40 pm · Link
I’m a huge candle fan, but due to asthma (and general anti-petroleum issues) I’ve had to switch to soy. Those can be harder to find, but oh, they burn nicely!
February 28th, 2008 at 5:43 pm · Link
Great list! I love candles, they set such a warm and inviting atmosphere.
February 28th, 2008 at 7:02 pm · Link
I’m allergic to fragrance, so all scented candles are barred from entering my apartment. No aromatherapy for me! It’s very, very difficult to find truly unscented candles, but my even-more-allergic mom loves candles, so she seeks out everything that’s available to us.
As far as what sort of candles do I love the best – I’m an historical fan, so the perfect candles for me are in the classic candelabra.
February 29th, 2008 at 7:16 am · Link
I used to sell PartyLite and it totally shocked me how little I knew about the appropriate care of candles when I got my training.
February 29th, 2008 at 4:05 pm · Link
I love candles, especially beeswax and soy ones. Natural scents for me, not perfumed ones, which make hubby’s allergies act up. Fortunately, there are now a lot of places to buy fabulous candles.