Sunday, November 21, 2021

Saturday Fun

Treats from S!

Neighbor S called in the morning to ask if I would like to have some of her mother's famous banana cake and a piece of chocolate cake from the Armenian bakery.  Oh, yes, please!  Her daughter N added the containers of chocolate pudding, as well!  Now, wasn't that a nice start to the day?

It was very foggy, when I first woke up, this morning.  I turned off the porch lights and went back to bed for another hour or so.  It stayed cloudy and cool, all day.  

In the afternoon, daughter and I spent some time crafting/gift making:

Tea Cup Candles in the Making

I had some tea cups that I had been given.  I had bought the wicks, a packet of six with clips, prior to the pandemic (July 2019; I had mentioned it in a blog post!), using a 40% off coupon.  I don't remember how much I paid for them, but they are priced at $3.99 on the store website, now.  I had bought a big 3-wick rectangular candle, several years ago, from a discount store for about $3.00; I had used part of it to make tea cup candles, previously.  There was a portion of it (less than half) left, plus, assorted candle ends that I had saved over the years.  Today, my daughter and I cut up and melted some of the candle wax (I had kept the old saucepan I had used previously to melt the wax), and we made five tea cup candles!  Four of the cups have the same design (the pink flowered ones shown at the back in the photo) - they are for four of my daughter's friends; they don't have matching saucers, but, my daughter says that's fine.  The cup in the front has a matching saucer and it was given to my mother by one of her students.  After pouring in the melted wax, the tea cups were set aside for the wax to harden, which it did, but, the process resulted in some dips and ridges on the surface.  Tomorrow, we will melt a little more wax to pour into each tea cup to fill in the dips and smooth out the tops.  

On a productive note, I scrubbed and cleaned under the burners, etc., on one side of the stove before we began melting the wax, etc.  I also washed some dishes (by hand).  

Later in the evening, my daughter and I watched an acrobatics performance put on by some of the instructors at the studio where my daughter takes her acrobatics classes; the performance was to celebrate the studio's 13 year anniversary and live streamed.  We both enjoyed watching it.  

Afterwards, I called and spoke with cousin P and with friend R.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- S sharing more treats with us!
- Spending an afternoon crafting with my daughter
- Frugal gifts thanks to The Stash!
- A working furnace
- Chatting with family and friends

Today's joyful activity was crafting with my daughter.  

Plans for tomorrow include having an online video chat with a friend of mine and some sewing.  According to the forecast, it will be a sunny and warmer day, tomorrow.

How was your Saturday?  What are your plans for Sunday?  Have you made tea cup candles?  If not, is it something you might consider making?  

18 comments:

  1. The candles are a great idea! I have never tried making any but I do often use up ends of candles and pools of wax by standing several candles in an empty candle holder and wedging the "spare" wax in between. It then all melts into a multi wick candle. My friend used to collect old candles to melt down in a special vessel and properly reset them using new wicks. As I have so many old candles I am now wondering whether I could use them up this way. Maybe get some wicks from a craft store and some old teacups from a charity shop... I'm sure an old saucepan could be found. I just always thought you needed something special to melt the wax so never bothered before.

    The free cakes look yum!

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    1. The recommended way to melt the wax is in a water bath because the wax is flammable. But, I have always melted the wax directly on the stove, on low heat; I never leave it unattended and stir it constantly to make sure the heat gets distributed evenly. You could melt the wax in an old clean tin, set in a saucepan of water, if you'd like. You could use some of your old jam jars to make jar candles, if you don't have spare teacups. :)

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    2. Thank you! I'm starting to feel inspired! Wasn't sure whether any old jar would work or whether it needed to be some sort of specially treated glass. Anyway I quite like the idea of a pretty teacup and saucer for an unusual gift. Will have to look around! In fact I think I have a couple of Christmas mugs upstairs that might be suitable if all else fails.

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    3. You are welcome. :) A jam jar should work well. Maybe pair a jar of your jam and a jam jar candle for a gift? Just make sure to label the jar candle as a candle! :D

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  2. I've never make candles of any sort. It's never occurred to me to try but I do like lighting candles during the colder months so maybe it's something to think about doing.

    I'm spending my Sunday at home enjoying a mixture of Italian language and piano practice, reading and family tree research. Plus I've made a Thai green curry for later.

    One bit of good new, a Sri Lankan restaurant has opened in Bath (about 12 miles away) and they also do take-aways so I will be trying their delights next time I go to Bath 😀

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    1. It's something fun to do and a fairly frugal project, if you have a supply of wax and containers or molds, etc. :)

      Sounds like you are having a nice, relaxed Sunday. :)

      I did a search for a Sri Lankan restaurant in Bath and came up with The Coconut Tree! Their menu looks good. You'll have to give them a try and let me know if you liked the food. :)

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    2. That's the one! I'll definitely be treating myself to a meal there.

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  3. I have never seen tea cup candles before. What a great idea!
    Chocolate cake and crafting with your daughter does indeed sound like a great day.

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    1. I saw them in a crafts book I had, many years ago. They said you could even stick a new birthday candle in the middle in lieu of buying wicks and I thought that was a great idea! In fact, the last time I made tea cup candles, that's what I did! :D

      Any day is a great day if it involves doing a project with my daughter and there is chocolate cake on top of it! :D

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  4. I can see S and her daughter get pleasure out of creating these festive plates of goodies. What would they do without willing recipients to enjoy them?
    The tea cup candles will be so pretty for your daughter's friends to receive. I haven't made candles for quite a while. One time a neighbour's young daughter was looking for wax remains to make candles and when I gave her some I was rewarded with a cute little Christmas tree candle.
    I did some grocery shopping yesterday and managed to forget the milk! Thank goodness for canned milk which can be watered down, It's not that bad. I rested my foot after church today and DH went for his walk alone. He has been treating the dog next door while I was out of the house this morning!

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    1. S and her family are generous to a fault! I must admit I enjoy feasting on their cakes, etc. :)

      The tea cup candles were a fun project to do. Daughter will pair them up with some of the melt and pour loofah soaps she made, earlier.

      Oh, too bad about the milk, but, glad you can some canned milk to use instead. That puppy has both you and DH wrapped around his paw, doesn't he? :D

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  5. The tea cup candles are lovely and such a good idea and will make wonderful gifts. Your cake treats look so yummy.

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    1. Thank you, Eileen. We like to do craft activities together and give homemade gifts. :) The cakes were delicious! Hope you are fully recovered from your vaccine side effects and enjoying your day.

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  6. What a nice thing for you and your daughter to make for gifts. They are really pretty made in the tea cups like you did.
    I've never made candles - I bet it's fun.

    Neighbor S continues to send the goodies your way and that plate looks particularly good.

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    1. Thank you, Debra. My daughter and I like to do crafts and we enjoy giving homemade gifts; especially frugal gifts that come together using items we have on hand! :)

      S and her family continue to spoil us with treats! The cakes were delicious; we haven't tried the puddings, yet!

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  7. The candles are a lovely idea and those teacups are so pretty.
    I really should learn to catch up with blog reading AFTER I've eaten breakfast, I'm feeling so hungry and those cakes look delicious. X

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    1. Thank you, Jules; the candles came out well (they needed to be topped up with more wax after it set). The cakes were delicious, too, but, yes, better have your breakfast first! :D

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