DIY: Soy candles

DIY is the way to go anymore and with so many ways to do it, your possibilities are endless.  This is a marker movement we have going on currently, so anything and everything, and anyone who's anyone is making things. From the outlets such as Pinterest, to DIY kits being sold on Etsy, there is no stopping you once you catch the DIY bug.  With that, DIY movement companies have popped up all over the place with their own ways to push the DIY movement further.  Once of those companies is Darby Smart!

Darby Smart was founded with the idea of bringing DIY straight to your door.  Their kits arrive with everything you need to create stylish, functional, easy to do crafts and DIY activities.  Recently I received the soy candles kit and boy was it a blast!  The kit arrived with everything I needed!  It even arrived with a handwritten note, what a great touch!

My soy candle kit contained the soy wax, of course.

Wax colors in red, blue, and yellow.

The glass votive holders.

Bamboo sticks to hold the wick.

And scents in bacon (ha!), Spice Pumpkin, Dozen Roses, and French Vanilla.

#MadeByMe

I started first by melting the soy wax.  I didn't quite follow the instructions that came with the kit, step-by-step, because I wanted to be creative and see what I could do on my own. 

I filled each votive with the hot soy wax.

Split my wax colors in half and dropped in each other that I wanted to achieve in each votive.  I let the hot soy wax melt the wax colors on their own.

The wax colors as they were melting.  

This photo was actually featured on the Darby Smart page too!  Check it out here!

And this is what happened!  How awesome are those colors?  The instructions from Darby Smart say to grate the wax to help it melt faster.  I waited until the color wax was completely melted into the votive and then added my scents.  

I added the wicks after trimming them down to the appropriate size for each votive holder.

Beautiful colors!

The yellow was scented with bacon scent, the two blues were spiced pumpkin, the white was French vanilla, and the reds were dozen roses scent.  My craft room smelled heavenly for the rest of the day too!

As they were drying, I adjusted the wicks a little bit to make them stand up straight.

And the finished candles.

Such a great DIY project!  

And right now you can get this DIY soy candle kit for less than $25 HERE!  This makes an awesome Christmas gift for the DIY'er on your list!

Be sure and check out these other DIY kits from

1980's Throwback Bags

Modern Plaster Votive Holders

Five on Friday: Spark of Loves this Week

It's Friday and time for another Five on Friday linkup with Christina over at Carolina Charm.  Here are the Five errr Ten things actually, that made my week special.

1.  This cup of soup.

Because I was home by myself on Monday and it seemed like a nice, quiet, less involved dinner to make.  I am not ashamed.

2.  This note to the Tooth Fairy.

Because my ten-year-old is losing the last of his baby teeth and it makes mommy sad.

3.  This Frozen Treat.

Because it's about time someone made these, and they are only 60 calories too!

4.  This Robin's Nest.

Because I finally found the perfect spot for it.

5.  This Movie Outing.

Because it was fun.  We live less than three blocks from our local theater, so we took off on foot and watched a movie, stuffed our faces with popcorn, and had a night of it.  We have decided to make this a special thing every other week on Wednesdays.  Free Birds is a cute movie too, go see it!

6.  This Cheesecake.

Because I made it and it was delicious!  Grab some washi tape and paper straws here from Brit+Co to make the little flags on top like I did.

7.  This Peach.

Because it was too good to pass up even if it isn't in season.

8.  My Christmas Cacti.

Because she's lovely this time of year.

9.  This Veteran's Day Project.

Because we love doing crafts in the Rain Valley Classroom.  See what we are up to week-to-week here.

10.  These Sugar Cookies.

Because Skylar and I made them and they were yummy.  And who doesn't like a sugar cookie shaped like a bone?  :)

Eco-Tip:  Use paper bags when lining your small garbage cans instead of plastic.  Paper will end up in the landfill just the same, but unlike plastic, it will actually break down faster.  For this and other tips on going green visit, The Earth and Me:  Go Green.

Cabinet project re-make

After moving most everything back into our house from our "almost" move, I realized a few things, well honestly, more than a few things either needed to go, or needed to be refreshed or redone.  One of the things that needed to have a redo was an old set of shelving that we've had since Skylar was born.  I actually bought the shelving to put in Skylar's nursery to allow more places to stash baby goods.  The color of it then was an older brown color and about a year later I repainted it a darker brown and added an accent color of light blue to the top.  Well, I liked the top, but I got to where I hated the brown.

I had taken advantage of the free paint samples that Ace Hardware did one summer a few years ago and got a turquoise as a sample.  I wanted it to match some turquoise confetti I have had for awhile and you can see the color match on the top of the can.  Every so often Lowe's and Home Depot will have paint sample giveaways and all you have to do is show up with the card, or the day of and claim your free sample.

You can see the older brown color here.  Of course it wasn't bad, but needed a redo for sure.

I laid newspaper down on my floor and tested the color against the brown just to make sure it would cover it completely.

Then started painting.

I went ahead and did a light coat on the back as well, just to make everything more uniform in color.  Although I only used one coat on the back, it looks a lot better than blue paint drips.

I finished the back, sides, and top first and let them sit to dry overnight before painting the front.

After the first coat I realized I loved the contrast of the brown selves against the blue color.  I decided to leave them brown and paint the inside shelves blue.

I loved how it looked as I was painting the other side.  I wish the other shelves had gotten a coat of brown paint as well, but I think they will look great blue.

Once the inside and the door dried overnight, I noticed the brown under the door and side panels needed another coat of paint.  But it looks more aged and vintage if I just left them with one coat.  I liked the way it made the side panels and door look as if it was worn.  I had antiquing wax and used some in the corners, but since the brown paint underneath gave it the look I was wanting, I didn't have to use much at all.

You can see some of the antiquing wax here on the side.

After the paint completely dried, I stresses the sides and corners with some fine-grit sand paper to make it look even more antiqued.

And the finished shelves.  It now sits in our laundry room/mud room and stores all of our essentials needed for random occasions.  See our bowl of flashlights? 

The blue on brown really gives it a nice contrast and pop of color.

Hopefully I can tackle the old door sometime this summer and really bring it all together.

Now to find the perfect door pull to really give it some character.

Eco-Tip:  Furniture now days is made with mostly particle or paper board that's been pressed together.  Finding an old piece of solid wood furniture that isn't outrageously priced is rare indeed.  Consider checking out second-hand stores or thrift stores to find an older, well used piece and giving it new life with a coat of paint and/or a good sanding.  You will be pleasantly surprised at how wonder it is to gift new means to an old piece that would have been otherwise forgotten.  For this and other tips on going green visit, The Earth and Me:  Go Green.