Hi All,
So this isn’t strictly dog related BUT don't worry there are dogs mentioned…
This past Sunday me and Han (the bestie) had a date planned - we were to attend a Candle making workshop at Wilton Street Craft Co. hosted by Emma and Lady (the beautiful little Dachshund), so naturally the night before was fuelled by BBQ food and Aperol Spritz... How wrong could the workshop go? lol
We arrived at 12 on the dot… to be greeted by the lovely Emma of Wilton Street Craft Co. and the beautiful little Lady. Wren had come along to drop us off and obviously the two little business partners had to meet - let just say they got along swimmingly, sharing the love for silly noises and glee wees.
When all the meeting, greeting and saying goodbye to the pooch was over we headed inside. Once in we met the rest of the group and we were treated to a selection of hot and cold drinks - which I must say were plentiful.
We all introduced ourselves (that sounds awkward but it really wasn’t) and had a chat whilst Emma finished with the setting up.
The candle workshop was being filmed and I have got to say I was quite nervous about this… BUT to be honest I completely forgot the cameras and crew were there (camera/sound and lighting set up and all!).
Over the first half of the workshop we learnt a little bit about the history of candles, some science behind the smells and how and why Emma creates her candles the way she does (find more about that here).
When we starting mixing the smells and wax*… I discovered that candle making + me equals quite a bit of mess (I knew I shouldn’t have mocked Han early on saying she was going to be the messy one of the day).
*I don’t want to go too much in to the process of the making of the candles itself as you really should go and experience the candle making process in person at one of Emma's workshops (here).
After creating two candles from Emma's own recipes we all headed back into the living room for refreshments (brews and cakes!) and a chin-wag. The cake was of the vegan Bakewell variety and was AMAZING (by The Vegan Cake Bakery) and again there was a huge selection of hot and cold drinks… there was mention of a biscuit tea!!! I did not experience this as even though I am a Lancashire girl I am not much of a tea drinker, shocking I know!
When we were all suitably stuffed with cake and caught up with Lady cuddles we trotted back to the cleaned up workspace to start our next project! We all had the task of creating our own scents.
Emma gave us a run down on how scents work together, how different oils had different properties and benefits and we had to put that knowledge to work… I found this A LOT harder than I thought. ALL I knew was that I wanted to use Grapefruit in my candle (my new favourite Zoflora smell haha / favourite drink - Pampelle). After many many many combinations and after everyone else actually started mixing up their scents - I finally mastered mine - a mix of mandarin, grapefruit and black pepper to create an almost Aperol like smell (my other favourite drink).
We all poured out personal candles and realised there was an amount of wax left over and as we were all thrifty at heart we really didn’t want this to go to waste… so we mixed the 5 together to create a group candle... And you know what, it actually smelt pretty damn good!
Obviously you can’t just create a candle and not name it… So we then got to work on naming, labelling and sticking our work. My selection was - Sherbet Herbert, Sweet Dreams and Spritz (I clearly don’t have Emma’s naming skills).
I ended my day with more cuddles from the little Lady and business talk with the lovely Emma!
Overall Verdict: DO IT! I had so much fun, it really was the perfect way to spend a Sunday. It didn’t feel like a workshop but just like an afternoon spent with friends. I felt so welcome and comfortable from the get-go.
The 3 candles you leave the workshop with will make great gifts or you could gift the experience of the workshop itself!
I personally left the day with 3 candles and 3 new friends (I am referring to the other people at the workshop - not Sherbet Herbert, Sweet Dreams and Spritz lol).
Follow this link to book one of Emma's amazing workshops, or to keep up to date with her upcoming events, sign-up to her mailing list here.
I am now officially a CHANDLER! (No not the friends character but a maker of candles).
Ash - Wren & Rye xx