We will not be open for business from Sunday, December 16 through Thursday, December 27. Have a Merry Christmas!
Pair a Buck Lure MANdle with your outdoorsman’s Christmas gift! Great for a laugh! But don’t worry – it smells like green apple. Which, I am told, does actually attract deer!
For this and other MANdles, check out Prairie Lights Candles
Buttered Popcorn MANdle
Hi! This is Mac of Mac’s MANdles. Here is a perfect gift idea. Get a Buttered Popcorn MANdle along with their favorite movie and you have a great Christmas present!
For Christmas… the gift of hope.
Cancer is still on the rise, and it is an issue that is near and dear to my heart. I designed this fragrance for a precious friend, who has now passed, which is why it has taken longer to actually make into a candle to sell. The premium fragrance oils and essential oils are those with the most scientific evidence behind them in their aid to uplift, relieve anxiety, and to restore a bit of energy that cancer, chemo, and radiation can sap the body and mind of.
I am using a lavender ribbon. This is the color used for cancer in general, and lavender is lighter plum (plum is used for caregivers of cancer fighters), so I believe it is the best choice. Now to find a better lavender ribbon! (Not too fond of this one.)
So, while many of us wish we had the magic cure to give to our loved ones, we can still demonstrate our desires by gifting them with Hope.
*heart*
p.s. – the photo is clear on my end – so why is wordpress showing a blurry one??? 
Here is a great idea for an affordable hostess gift! 4 soy tea lights in an organdy bag for $4.00!
Why wonder if they drink, or what wine they like, or if they can eat sugary baked goods?! A nice small set of tea lights in irresistible holiday fragrances is a sure-to-please host/hostess gift. Pleasing to the senses, useful, and easy to find a place for! I cannot imagine these ending up in the closet.
(More ideas to come!)
While supplies last, Mac’s MANdles are 50% off! The existing MANdles in recycled jars only, thank you.
MANdles make economical, eco-friendly, and FUN gifts for the men in your life! The holidays will be here before you know it! Every scent has its appeal!
Contact us or visit our website at PrairieLightsCandles.com
Time for a fresh start! New state, new ideas, new direction.
Although I am eager to share with you our renovation plans for Prairie Lights, there is a pressing matter at hand that must be addressed. It has been too long in coming. For this, I apologize.
Candle Courtesy. Yes, your soy candles require a little bit of courtesy.
As many of you know, wicks continue to be a sensitive subject. I strive to use the purest wicks, but like most environmentally-friendly practices, using the cleanest wick has a down side. Not chemically treated, as so many commercial wicks are, they require a little more tending to. So here goes:
For container candles, your label will say to keep the wick trimmed to 1/4″. The truth is that soy wax requires a bit more heat to burn, so 3/8″ is probably a better choice.
If your wick is too short, the wax will drown it out and the candle will not burn. Solution: take a heat gun and melt the top layer, pour it out, relight the candle and allow it to burn to an even pool.
If your wick is too long, the wick may pop, smoke, and self-trim into the wax pool. The smoking may stain the glass container. Solution: trim your wick before you re-light it. Even taking the top mushroom off will help.
If your glass is stained and you still want to burn the candle, wait until it is cool. Holding it over the sink sideways, get a scrubbing sponge slightly soapy, turn on the hot water, and gently scrub the sides, rinse gently, sideways. Let the candle dry upside down until dry. Then set the candle back upright and allow it to dry at least 12 hours. The glass should be fresh and clean. Trim that wick and relight!
Starting a new container candle: Making sure the wick is trimmed to approximately 3/8″ (the width of a normal pen), light the candle and allow it to burn until it has a wax pool from edge to edge, approximately 1/4″. Blow out candle and allow it to cool before lighting it again. You can also do this if you find the cold scent throw has become weak. It will revive the “throw”.
Starting a new pillar candle: Making sure the wick is trimmed to approximately 3/8″, light the candle and allow it to burn only until it has NO LESS than 1/4″ rim, preferably 1/2″ rim for safety. This may require a re-centering of the wick. Blow out the candle and allow it to cool. You now have a “memory pool” for the candle, allowing the pillar to burn down the center.
Pillar top
NEVER LEAVE ANY CANDLE UNATTENDED!!!
I hope this answers the questions I have been asked about optimal candle burning. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask me. If I do not know the answer, I will do my best to find it.
Shine bright!
We are moving!!! We will not be accepting orders for the next few weeks while we move and settle in to our new surroundings. Blessings to you all!
Mac’s MANdles is taking a big step forward… but leaving a smaller footprint.
We are testing the heat-proof-ness (new word!) of some of the bottles father and son are cutting. Hopes are to use these cut bottles as candle jars! It is a learning process that has not yet been perfected, but we thought we’d give you a glimpse of what may yet come! Ideally, this would be a beer candle in a beer bottle (without ripped label).
We are enjoying looking at bottles differently. We never noticed how elegant some water bottles are once cut! Others, we notice little niches, waves, and other details typically overlooked. It is always a good thing to look at the world around us a bit differently, yes?
Now if only the recycling center would let us rummage through their glass…
Okay, so I finally did it. I took the time and cost to make a simple, clean website. Our hope is that this will make it easier for you to order your candles, easier for us to fill those orders.
I am finding I am less computer savvy than I once was. This blog has been sassing me (MANdles page is a mess in spite of deleting and starting over twice!). Even the website dumped my photos once today. So… let us keep up the hope that this will indeed be a good choice.
I must follow my “Wick Woes” with a short “Soy Sorry”:
I purchased a new box of 100% soy wax before making candles for the Opp Fair. It came – looking different (box, flakes, etc) – but they swore it was what I ordered. In melting, I noticed bubbles coming up. I have never seen such effervescent wax (good in personality, not in wax!). I worked hard to sift the bubbles out and thought I did a good job. Now that I am burning some of those candles, I see most of them are bubbling as they melt! Wow! I have never seen such a thing! I apologize if anyone purchased bubbling candles. I have not seen anything like it before, and the cause is out of my control. I have thrown out the rest of that wax and ordered a new bunch from my old supplier. All new candles will be made with the new wax. As for the existing bubbling candles, if I have something you want in stock already made, I will sell it to you for half off! (Not the aromatherapy ones, though.) You will have to email me, or call me, or stop me when you see me, and ask for this price. (It is not worth playing around with this blog to make the difference.)
Now for the good news? Our website! Let’s see if it is as I made it… PrairieLightsCandles.com
