In 2020, like many people stuck inside during quarantine, I picked up a new hobby. I genuinely don’t remember why I chose this hobby, or how I got started with it. No one told me to do it, and I didn’t get a kit or anything (which was, in hindsight, the root of my problems with this hobby. Lack of proper direction).
Whenever I tell people this, they say, “oh cute, like candle dipping?” And I have to explain no, just like pouring soy wax and fragrance oils into a jar with a cute label. And they sort of look confused. Because shouldn’t that be… easy? Kind of idiot proof, right?
Anyone who knows ANYTHING about making soy wax candles knows that it is far from easy. And I’m not just saying that- look into any YouTube video or podcast episode on the process of creating candles, and most (if not all, genuinely!) will tell you it’s a harrowing process.
“Just follow the recipe!” I hear you. Trust me, I really do. And I’ve certainly tried every recipe out there.
I have made approximately 100 candles, and about 10 of them work. 1/10 ratio is pretty damning for a hobby, and many quit before continuing.
But, as with anybody with a niche, kinda weird hobby, I do it for the love of the game.
It has certainly taken time and investment, and as it’s currently 2025 instead of 2020, you can see where my process has meandered, hit a wall, and driven off a cliff completely. While I do have a full time job and it’s tricky to find time for these hobbies, I do genuinely enjoy candles, parsing out the scents, making my own, and even the science of experimenting with the vessel diameter opening size, wick size, type of wax, temperatures for adding oils and pouring the wax and ambient temperature in the house to avoid wet spots… okay, maybe I don’t enjoy ALL the technical details all the time, but it is genuinely a fun puzzle to sort out.
And MAN, when you get a candle that fits to your experimental expectations and smells and looks amazing? It’s like striking gold! I love to have all my hard work pay off in the delightful reward of a clean, delightful smelling candle.
And all the while, I’m making stories.
In making candles one intends to sell, you also must do the dreaded “build a brand.” This also turns out to be more fun than it sounds. (Most things do, when you add enough joy and whimsy).
With zero deliberation, I knew what I was about: telling stories. Each candle comes with one, and certain lines or editions of candles come with a vast interconnected story and fantasy world.
I had just started playing DnD, or Dungeons and Dragons, in the year of 2022. It feels strange to say that I’ve only been playing the game for three years, because fantasy and storytelling has always been a part of my life. It is so fantastic and fun that there is this game made perfectly to explore these with friends.
And now that I’m making candles, those candles can’t help but tell a story. Every time I choose a scent, I think automatically of how a writer would describe the person who smells like it, or the setting.
My original candle line has about (an extremely overly ambitious, if you know about candles) nine different scents. Yeah, and I wanted this for my first launch. And for each to have a weaving, interconnected story, but that also could be read independent of one another. It feels lackluster to admit this is a lot harder than I expected, and I’ll have to actually begin with a limited release. But as I burn a S’mores candle in my room now, and breathe in the coziness of the holiday season with chocolate and graham, I cannot help but think of stories told by a warm fire. I want to share my stories, even if they’re silly, and even if people say the concept is strange. I mean, what, buying a candle and it comes with a little story? People don’t buy candles for that. And certainly, my candles don’t need to be read to be understood- the scent says it all. But this is another fun, silly way for me to express my creativity, to dip into that overflowing font of liquid gold storytelling that naturally comes from reading fantasy or playing a TTRPG (table top role playing game). I get the same feeling telling stories as I do when reading some of my favorite books from when I was young, or playing a beloved fantasy game like Skyrim or The Witcher or Outer Worlds (though that’s technically sci fi).
So, call this a soft-launch, I suppose, in my rambling, journal blog post way: here are my candles that I have ready so far, with a story to go along with. I do hope you browse, and spark your own creativity along the way! Oh, how I wish you could smell these. As Alton Brow said, “If only they had invented scratch and sniff TV!”
The Original Eight
Conveniently, like Skyrim’s Nine Divines, I also have nine candles, but one is mere idea rather than reality (ouch, say the Stormcloaks). These are my original scents I had made years ago, and the interconnected story is born out of months of testing the scents and playing around with different ideas.
- Arcane Library: warm leather, saffron, bergamot, and just a bit of tabacco, this gender neutral scent evokes the image of a cozy leather armchair, a cup of tea, and the burning spices of a spell gone completely off the rails. Thomas Blackwood, apprentice to an ornery arch mage and lover of sweet things, is desperate to prove himself worthy. Just how far will he go to achieve his goals?
- Coffee Shop: Black coffee swirled with maple and vanilla cream steams in your hands, warming you from the inside out. The waitress at the local shop is a known gossip, but she means well. She has the dirt on anyone and everyone that comes by her shop. She knows people wear masks to hide who they really are, but luckily she has always had an uncanny knack of reading people. What will it take for her to reveal her gathered secrets?
- Sweet Rolls: Aw, did somebody steal your sweet roll? Not today. These cinnamon sugar slathered pastries smell sweet, spicy, with a subtle hint of milk bread underneath, giving the effect of having guests ask when the rolls will be pulled from the oven. Mama Cass is the kindly mother hen of the town, and while she may not pay mind or ear to gossip, holds much in the way of passed down knowledge and old wive’s tales. Her “ancient” family recipe may be only two hundred years old, but she swears it carries magic in the icing.
- The Ranger: Pine, cedar wood, and a subtle hint of lavender, burn this one and surround yourself with the heady scent of an old growth forest. Ranger Marcus Thornfield spends more time with the trees than he does people, and that suits him just fine. He spends his days looking out the old firewtach tower, keeping an eye to the subtle boundary between fae and human worlds, doing his duty as was passed down to him through his family for generations. Which is why, when a certain young lad suddenly goes missing in town at the same time a disturbance in the forest makes itself known, he takes a keen interest in the investigation.
- Wild Mountain Honey: sweet clover, mountain herbs, and golden honey smell like a breath of fresh alpine air with a touch of sweetness. The bees as of late have been producing a fascinating kaleidoscopic honey, catching reflective colors in the light that refracts off its golden comb. The beekeeper is nearly certain of its source, narrowing in on the puffs of pollen clouds that have released far too early for it to be a normal pollen season. She’ll have to discuss with similarly forest-minded folk to figure out the roots of this sudden change.
- Red Dragon Crush: Sophisticated, deep, dark, and luscious, this black cherry merlot holds more than meets the eye. Those lucky enough to partake in this popular vintage notice a distinct rejuvenating effect, and attribute it to the heady haze that comes over oneself when in good company and better drinks. Break the wax seal on the letter to discover the truth about the wines and expose long-buried family secrets, or tuck the letter in your pocket and take these revelations to your grave.
- Fairy Garden: Enter the fairy gates to a floral garden of rose, lily of the valley, wild jasmine, and lilac. Blooms riot above you as you are invited to their swirling dance. Pay no mind to the faces of those other dancers; they swing to the rhythms of their own tunes, and will not remember you passing by. So feel free to let the mask slip, enjoy the night, and stay a while. Good luck if you try to find the passage back to the place you were before.
- Oakmoss: Forest rain, wet leaves, and mossy trees scent. Something stirs in the deep woods, a being long forgotten by most rises from the damp earth. A forgotten prince of the fae could bring both worlds together, or crush it entirely.
Dragonfire Tavern was the dis- never started so cannot technically continued- ninth candle. I just couldn’t fit that story in without forcing some things around, and decided to move him to a different candle line specifically for Dungeons and Dragons. That one is a ways off, but I am so excited to show you when it’s finally perfected!
Autumn Line
This Halloween-themed line includes a tarot-style card that can be read upright or reversed. It works more like an oracle card, designed to match the candle’s theme. At its center is an event, encounter, or item: something you can draw during DnD or any TTRPG to spark a scene or inspire action. It also can be pulled during solo-dnd to add to a new journal entry for your character!
- Apple Cider: A kettle steams in the golden kitchen, filling the air with crisp apple slices and curling orange peel. Cinnamon glows like autumn hearths, while a grounding musk settles into warmth and memory.
- Ghost Stories: A crackling ember warms the night, carrying the scent of toasted sweetness, graham crumbling, chocolate melting, marshmallows turning golden. A soft curl of campfire smoke wraps you in cozy nostalgia.
- Into the Unknown: A hidden trail curls away, leading you deeper under the shelter of cedar and oak. Crisp leaves scatter and crunch softly as you wander onward.
- Goblin Market: Lanterns glow in a crooked alley where stalls overflow with jewel-bright berries, sugared fruits, and honeyed cream. The air hums with temptation, sweet and sharp as citrus, sticky with musk and sugar-dust promises.
Sneak Peak: Travel Line!
Hence the name- I love travel. That was the original intent of my blog, and even of my candles. Each candle in this line comes with a postcard of my own travels to these places (I never make a candle of a place I have not yet been!) and a short vignette, slice of life while traveling.
- Italian Limoncello: Sunlit lemons burst with brightness along the Amalfi cliffs, cooling the air with sweet, sparkling zest.
- Sorrento, Italy
- Rosemary Focaccia Bread: Warm bakery air drifts through narrow stone streets, rich with olive oil, sea salt, and fresh-cut rosemary.
- Genoa, Italy
- Dark Cherry Liquor (Portuguese Ginja): A ruby-dark pour glows in the lantern-lit village, cherry-rich and spiced with secret sweetness.
- Óbidos, Portugal
- Pastel de Nata: Golden pastry warmth rises from tiled cafés, blending vanilla custard and caramelized sugar in the morning sun.
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Thai Spa: Waterfalls whisper across jade pools as lemongrass, mint, lime, and serene woods breathe pure restoration.
- Erawan National Park, Kanchanaburi
- Juicy Coconut Mango: Island breezes carry sun-drenched mango and creamy coconut, soft as a hammock swing at low tide.
- Koh Lanta, Thailand
- London Fog: Steamy Earl Grey swirls with vanilla through misty streets, a warm pause beneath a drizzling sky.
- London, England
- Wine Country: Vineyard hills glow amber at sunset, rich with ripe grapes, oak barrels, and soft summer air.
- Temecula, CA
- Vinyasa Flow: Cool mint and bright citrus open the breath, lifting tension as soft florals settle into stillness. Sandalwood and cedar ground the moment, creating a serene, heart-centered calm, like sinking into the perfect flow.
- A labor of love for my favorite yoga studio, The Yoga Barre, in Temecula, CA.
- Mojave Ghost: Pale desert winds shift over salt flats and ghostly blooms, carrying whispers of mineral-cool air.
- Death Valley National Park, CA
- Cactus Water: A sharp, green freshness rises from sun-cracked earth, cooled by desert dusk and resilient wild flora.
- Joshua Tree National Park, CA
- California Dreamin’: A flowery field is bathed by an eager, energetic sun. Neroli blossom and vanilla orchid stand proudly with sweet island nectar, mingling ocean spray, and bitter orange underneath.
- Big Sur, California
- Transylvanian Woods: Moonlit pines and ancient stone paths breathe cold folklore that’s shadowed, mossy, and quietly enchanted.
- Brașov, Romania
Future Teasers
I am also so excited to have candles made for a Dungeons and Dragons theme (Dungeon Master candle, anyone? I need my own ambiance when my BBEG attacks my players!), a Skyrim theme (Khajiit has wares…), Fallout candles (Cowboy and gunpowder and the New Vegas strip baby!). My favorite thing about candles is how scents can evoke memories, even of places that don’t exist. In a lot of ways, ALL of my candles are travel candles. Just some of those places are fantasy worlds.
Well! Thank you for going on this journey with me! I am so excited to update you as my journey goes on. Thank you for supporting me in this quest- it has been a ton of fun so far!
Safe travels!
