Melting Basket 97

Wax tarts from my last basket I would seek out again: TBG Gardenia Coconut Cream and Pink Sands, CFTKR Sun Kissed Sugarcane, and RG Peppermint/Shaving Cream/Gilligan's Brew (I think this will be either in the Gilligan sampler or offered on its own soon, I recently got to pick its name and chose Winter Mermaid).

Ten Digit Creations- Patchouli Mint

Ten Digit Creations- This Old House

Super Tarts- Dwarf Warrior

Handmade in Florida- Summer Smoothie

Handmade in Florida- The Garden

Vintage Chic Scents- Bogie & Bacall

Vintage Chic Scents- Rose's Powder Room

Lasting Scent Candles- Bliss

Cosmic Cleanse- Fell on Black Days

Cosmic Cleanse- Set Fire to the Rain

Rosegirls- Game Over <3 gift

Rosegirls- 2500 Calories <3 gift

Rosegirls- Triple Berry Jelly Donut <3 gift

Sniff My Tarts- Sandalwood

Sniff My Tarts- Indian Sandalwood

Sniff My Tarts- Buttercream Sprinkles/Sugared Violets

Sniff My Tarts- Strawberry/Vanilla Waffle Cone/Cream Cheese Frosting <3 gift

Sniff My Tarts- Pizzelle/Blackberry and Marshmallow Smoothie <3 gift

Sniff My Tarts- Mango Sorbet/Coconut Cream Pie/Vanilla Waffle Cone <3 gift

Front Porch- Egyptian Musk <3 gift

If you want me to review any of these scents, please let me know which ones in the comments!

 I help take care of our home, our kids, my husband, our pets, my plants and heck, even the kefir grains full of wee yeasties and bacterium on the kitchen counter. But I know I have not been taking care of myself. This is a cycle I often fall into throughout my adulthood. I will be revved up for positive change and eat better, become more active, shed weight and feel amazing, asking myself, "why haven't I been doing this all along?!" Running along a well paved road with my heart hammering and a goofy grin on my face, both literally and figuratively. Then all of a sudden I am not on that track. My eyes blink briefly and find my feet slugging in the mire and tripping in the fiery weeds, not giving a damn what I eat or how long I have lain in bed watching endless TV. The weight is back and then some. The energy is gone. The self-esteem, shot. 

Guys. I am in the mire. Big time. I can blame it on any number of things, including myself first and foremost. But I am trying to step back onto that road. Monday, the first real day of summer break, I began a new routine to try and check myself. I am journaling my food and counting calories and cutting out extraneous sugars and overly processed foods. I am working out again. (Oh God! My butt and thighs hurt.) As an educated woman, I know what to do. The equation is easy but much like following the Ten Commandments or putting others first, the execution can be challenging. But like those other things too, the outcomes and peace of mind (heart and body) are well worth it, if the battle is waged. I am trying to be battle ready.

Some tools I am using:

Food Freedom Forever: Letting Go of Bad Habits, Guilt and Anxiety Around Food by Melissa Hartwig

The Whole 30 by the Hartwigs

I have not read either book yet, but I figure it cannot hurt and maybe I will learn a few things that I can put into action.

Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30

Walking

Water

Pokemon journal for food tracking

Herbal teas (not weight loss teas just so we are clear! Just regular teas as a sort of treat to look forward to)

This is a simple plan and I know it will work for me, as I have lost weight just by tracking my food and working out before (just she says! HA!) but my point is that I know I can do it. I just need more tools to help me catch my backslides more quickly.  I feel like if I can learn what my triggers are and how to deal with them then I might make it. 

And just for transparency and clarity, I am not looking to lose just a handful of pounds. I have quite a load to lift off my burdened body. But the first step in the right direction has taken place.... the step to decide to do it. 

Sandra at Finger Candy is on a journey to better health too, you can read her story here. Do you have goals for better health? How are you accomplishing them? Have you tried the Whole 30 or any type of low carb/clean eating/paleo or whatever lifestyle eating plan? What helps you through the temptations?

Melting Basket 82

Wax tarts I would repurchase from the Yule basket are.... all of them. Seriously. Most were repurchases anyway and really they have become Christmas staples. To see what I melted click here. 

This basket is full of gifted scents. Some are from orders but I wanted to melt out the end of the year with treats that friends have given me recently. 

Rosegirls- Pumpkin Pecan Waffles Butterbrickle man I missed this one!

Rosegirls- Harvest Bake Sale Noel

Rosegirls- Apple Puff Pumpkin Pie

Rosegirls- Macintosh Swizzle Sticks

The Country Scent Shack- Vanilla Bliss

Candy Panda- Pumpkins in Paris

Pour Girl's Wax- Fall Fireside

Wild Vine- Radient Red Maple

Wild Vine- Orange Fireside

Front Porch- Hot Apple Pie is has been soooo looooong since I have had any FP

CFTKR- Cuban Tobacco

CFTKR- Burgundy Rose

SMT- Warm Vanilla Sugar

VCS- Ice Palace Cookies

Bonjour Wax- The Yule Ball

Satin Suzie Scents- Winter Woods

Satin Suzie Scents- Cranberry Festival

Long Cane Primitives- Vanilla Mint Noel

Long Cane Primitives- Creamy Nutmeg

If you would like any of these reviewed please leave a comment with which scents you want to know more about. 

The day after Christmas two of my sisters, Heather and Lindsey, and I headed out around 8am to check out the Lush store in Brandon and then a couple Targets. I ended up buying this 6 foot pre-lit birch tree for $47. It was half off plus an extra 10% off since it was a display. My obsession with birch continues. I also nabbed a 6 foot tall and skinny pre-lit evergreen to go outside by the door for $30. It was $100 but returned and on clearance for $69.99. My sister wheeled and dealed with the manager and got it down to $30 even. I was flabbergasted. No photo, as it is tucked into the attic now.

Lindsey and I scooped up all the vintage looking wrapping we could find. She has an eye for the cutest patterns possible. And she won't tell you either. You have to watch her like a hawk. Eye what she tosses into the cart. She even snuck in a second vintage Santa wrapping paper and I missed out on it. I only saw it as it scanned across the register. Look at those campers! The buffalo check (she taught me that) and the foxes! Coordinating tags and bows abound! And even a cookie plate. 

I love Target's big bow boxes. Full of various sizes, textures and colors, as well as ribbon and trim. I am a full fledged nerd and love to use the ribbon and bows on all the packages I can. The glass owls had to come home with me. Two for the tree and one each for the girls' ornament boxes. And lastly, a box of crackers for New Years Eve. Everything was 50% off and ended up being a great deal. I am set for next Christmas.

This is the majority of my Christmas spoils. Santa was generous and a great listener. The Sephora skincare box highlights products from South Korea and Tokyo. The Yves Saint Laurent Couture palette in 08 shimmers with green, taupe, gold and nudes. The color payoff impresses me with the small swatching I did. I also received cats in space leggings, purple pajamas, a bra, and a Lush Hello Gorgeous box. In my stocking I found panties, Essie Good To Go topcoat, Burt's Bees, Lancome eye makeup remover, lotion, Boscia face masks, a couple Lush bath bombs and wand, as well as a fat pack of Orbit gum. From friends and family I was treated to Sephora and Loft gift cards, candles, Starbucks gifts cards, a coffee mug from the original Starbucks, Sonoma Scent Studio's Forest Walk travel spray and other wonderful treasures.

I will post my Lush haul in a few days. I did get in two orders from the Lush USA site, but nothing from the UK site this year. Probably for the best. 

We will spend the rest of the week cleaning and hanging out. The tree is in the fire pit waiting on a chilly day, the decorations are in the attic and the girls have shed their tears of Christmas coming to a close. 

It is bittersweet but I am ready to move on. Ready to enjoy these last few days off. 

Did you do any post-Christmas shopping? What are you up to during the Christmas/New Year's interim?

Melting Basket 51

Wax tarts from the last basket I would buy again include: TBG Belladonna Tincture And I did! Two clamshells, LSC Cobweb Cookies.

Rosegirls Scoopable- Sugar and Spice Grapefruit

Rosegirls- Mandarin & Mimosa/Strawberries & Cream/American Cream muffin

Rosegirls- Pumpkin Pecan Waffles and Butterbrickle muffin

Rosegirls- Frosted Spearmint Snow Taffy large cookie

ScentSationals- Baked With Love

Sniff My Tarts- Farmer's Market piped heart

Sniff My Tarts- Peggy's Blueberry Noel/Ice Cream Cake Batter/Pumpkin Ice Cream cookie

CFTKR- Serendipity Noel

CFTKR- Christmas Mulberry <3 gift

Front Porch- Cranberry Spice <3 gift

The Bathing Garden- Honeyed Toffee <3 gift

Dessa's Homespun Scents- Cranberry Spice <3 gift

My Blueberry Creme Brulee tart I made.

If you would like to see these reviewed in depth, comment below with your choices. It is a weird haphazard basket of things I have been wanting to melt or craving. I am not sure when I will start to break out the Christmas scents. I don't really have a ton of them, about a melting basket full, but it is kind of late in the game to try and get more unless from a quick TAT vendor. Although I do have some candles. I don't decorate until the day after Thanksgiving but the Christmas tunes are piping out of the TV whenever I get a chance to cook. The Thankful Tree is up.

Scarlette is way more into the Thankful tree this year, understandably, since she can write and spell more independently. Generally, each morning we all write one thing we are thankful for and place it on the tree. I catch them doing more than one leaf, but I don't mind. I let the girls pick their own patterned paper this year, which was a fun way to kick it off. I am looking forward to making the Thanksgiving menu and recipe browsing. Are you decorating for Christmas yet? Is your holiday wax stash ready to go? Do you have any November traditions?

Melting Basket 41: Last One Before Vacation

As you can tell I have been doing some heavy duty melting. I have changed out my warmers about twice a day and melted in the girls room more often than usual. Tarts from the last basket I would repurchase include the following: LSC Watermelon Wedding Cake, RG Monkey Business Fluff Puffs seriously the BEST banana bakery I have EVER smelled, CFTKR Fresh Picked Strawberry do I even need to say that?, Honeydew Melon & Marshmallow Parfait, and Summer Strawberry Taffy gulp.... I like this even more than Fresh Picked Strawberry!

Rosegirls- Warm Voodoo

Rosegirls- Sugared Jasmine & Gilligan's Brew

Rosegirls- Raspberry Sauce/Mango/White Tea muffin

Rosegirls- Lavender Marshmallow Smoothie

Rosegirls- Florida Key Lime Pie/7 Up Pound Cake/Vanilla Ice Cream <3 gift

Rosegirls- Watermelon Slush/Pink Sugar/Warm Vanilla Sugar pie slice <3 gift

Sniff My Tarts- Pink Peppermint

Front Porch- Vanilla Noel

CFTKR- Coconut Marshmallow

CFTKR- Cardamom Spice Rum Cake

The Bathing Garden- Gardenia Coconut Cream my very last Bathing Garden, need to restock!

Thirty Street Crafts- Turkish Fairy Floss cotton candy

Southbound Soap Co- Sweet Pink Bake Shop

As you can see, a teeny tiny basket to melt for the last few days before vacation. I will leave some out for my sister to melt of course while she house-sits and cares for all our critters. If you would like any reviewed I would be more than happy but it may take me a week or so to get to it. 

I have completed my five year long hand-sewn quilt finally and will be carrying my embroidery with me to the mountains. Eighteen hours on the road total should leave me quite a bit of creating time. My finger tips will be calloused for sure. Do you have any projects or crafts you are eyeing or working on? 

Melting Basket 40

Wax tarts I would spend my money on to have again from the last week's basket include: Super Tarts Blossom, UTC American Cream/Pink/Mallow Noel, Alamo Santiago Blackberry, CFTKR OJ Cake, LCP Pomegranate Honeydew Cotton Candy Frosting, Streetman Salt & Lime.

Beezy- Strip & Go Naked <3 gift

Glitterati- La Vida Juicy Chardonnay

LSC- Watermelon Wedding Cake

LSC- Garden Tango

LSC- Jubilant

Front Porch- Pink Sugar <3 gift

Rosegirls- Strawberry Shortcake

Rosegirls- Huckleberry

Rosegirls- Kaelyn's Berry Patch

Rosegirls- Donkey Kong Destruction

Rosegirls- Monkey Business Fluff Puffs

Rosegirls- Vanilla Bean Noel/Strawberry Raspberry Guava/Marilyn (Blonde Moment) muffin

Rosegilrs- Mango/Strawberry Raspberry Guava/Margarita muffin

CFTKR- Coconut Strawberry Cake

CFTKR- Fresh Picked Strawberries

CFTKR- Strawberry White Cake <3 gift

CFTKR- Summer Daze

CFTKR- Honeydew Melon & Marshmallow Parfait

CFTKR- Summer Strawberry Taffy

CFTKR-Blackberry & Tangerine <3 gift

If you would like to know more about any of these, please comment and I will melt and review it just for you.

Where is the time going? June is done. Mid-summer beckons with fireworks, BBQs and vacation. Now that July is here it will be wide open, full throttle, power take off for me. I will be gone from July 11th through the 30th pretty much. There will be some posts in the que as well as guest posts that I am excited about! I hope y'all don't mind some crickets every now and again though. You might need it because when I get back there will be a flood of photos from my travels.

In the mean time, here is the beginning of the wall art I am working on for our bedroom. The extra large embroidery hoop is a couple feet wide and comes from my grandmother's sister. I am excited to get started embroidering it. 

I took the girls to play in the water spouts at a local park recently. It is just so amazingly hot outside as usual in the central Florida summer.

But the views are nice and breezes graced us from time to time. 

What has your June looked like? Any fun plans on the horizon?

Melting Basket 37: Tropical Beach Time

Wax tarts I would repurchase from the last basket include: CFTKR Violets & Birch and Country Gift Shop, FussAss Nighty Night, RG Peppermint Coconut Mallow (all gone... tears, tears, tears) and Pink & Blue Swizzle Sticks (this surprises me greatly as I am not a fan of Blue Sugar in general- too much anise, but here it is magnificent!), Glitterati Purple Rain, VCS Violette.

Lasting Scent Candles- Sand Dunes

Lasting Scent Candles- Island Spun Sugar

Lasting Scent Candles- Coco Lime Cookies <3 gift

Lasting Scent Candles- Carolina Blue Cone

Lasting Scent Candles- Caribbean Cupcakes

Lasting Scent Candles- Hurricane Punch

Vintage Chic Scents- Million Dollar Mermaid

Vintage Chic Scents- Cape Cod

Vintage Chic Scents- Bomb Pop Martini

Scentsy- Maui Mist

CFTKR- Exotic Passion Fruit

CFTKR- Gingered Peach

CFTKR- Passion Fruit Limeade

Rosegirls- Beach Vacation

Rosegirls- Pink Sugar/Margarita/Watermelon Slush

Rosegirls- Grapefruit Cotton Candy Frosting

Rosegirls- Sweet Lemon Confection, Pink Sugar & Gilligan's Brew <3 gift

Rosegirls- Sunny Days (Strawberry and satsuma)

Rosegirls- Supernova (black cherry, paradise, and cotton candy)

Front Porch- Cotton Candy <3 gift

Front Porch- Coconut Cream Pie

Ten Digit Creations- Barefoot <3 gift

Streetman- Honeysuckle Jasmine Surfer Girl

Streetman- Orange Berry

Victoria's Designer Creations- Bayside Gardenia

Juliana on Instagram helped me with this basket. I was wanting another theme and she suggested beachy. How perfect?! A nice way to celebrate the LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL! If you see anything you would like to have reviewed in the basket, please let me know.

So my new lens came in. I opted for a refurbished 35mm 1.8G AF-S DX for my old Nikon D40 that I use. I wanted the 50mm but with the D40 it does not have auto-focus and this gal needs auto-focus still. Shooting manual is great fun but manual focus and I are not acquainted. I am really excited but now you will have to go through the awkward phase of watching me learn to use it. Hopefully you will see some improvement as I continue to practice. 

My bleeding hearts are all a'bloom. My mom bought this plant for me at The Barn years ago and it loves where it was planted. One of the few plants I have not killed off. It's the small things.

I have had a difficult May. My health, work and morale have hit an all-time low. The only way I can get through one more second, minute, hour of the day during the week is to count my blessings in my head. The tears still come. The anger still rages. The blues still fall on me like a veil. But I can get out of bed. I can see light at the end of the tunnel... lazy summer days with my girls, reuniting with girlfriends, and the family getaway to the mountains. I know this season of difficulty will come to an end. It is just not knowing how much farther that is hard. Do you have cycles and seasons of distress? What do you do to help get through them? 

Melting Basket 36: It's Purple!

Wax tarts I would repurchase from the last basket include: Scentsy French Lavender and Sugar, TDC Patchouli Passion, Rosegirls Motion in the Ocean, Alamo Vintage, HHS Elsa's Ice Castle, and finally, Rustik Country Krafts Nag Champa. 

CFTKR- Violets & Birch
CFTKR- Festive Berry
CFTKR- Blue Raspberry Cotton Candy
CFTKR- Blissful Blackberry Type
CFTKR- Country Gift Shop <3 gift
FussAss- Nighty Night
FussAss- Hippie Chick
Rosegirls- Peppermint Coconut Mallow the last of my pie, how I will miss this guy
Rosegirls- Twilight Woods
Rosegirls- Date Night
Rosegirls- Pink & Blue Swizzle Sticks <3 gift
Front Porch- Vanilla & Black Burrant <3 gift
Sugar & Spice- Blackberry Coconut Mallow Fluff
Glitterati- Purple Rain an amazing fruity scent, highly recommended
Streetman- Wassamotta U <3 gift
Make Scents- Bedtime Bath <3 gift
Rainbow Melts- Zucchini Jam <3 gift
Beezy- French Lavender & Honey <3 gift
Super Tarts- New York <3 gift
SMT- Blueberry Grunt Cake <3 gift
SMT- Cotton Candy/Sweet Lavender Mallow/Blueberry <3 gift
VCS- Carousel <3 gift
VCS- Violette <3 gift on cold, this tart is filling my violet obsession that has developed as of late
VCS- Eleven Fairy Gifts<3 gift
VCS- Life is a Cabaret <3 gift

If you would like to see a more in-depth review of any of these scents, please comment below.

My Pop-Pop turned 70 on the 15th, the family wanted to surprise him on Sunday by all meeting at his church then eating lunch on the grounds. Welcome Baptist Church has not seen my face in its pews for about 15 years. I have not held a Hymnal in my hands in a long time. How can something feel so familiar yet strange all at once? So old fashioned and yet vital? It will be a sad day indeed when all these books of music are obsolete. 

That particular familial area of Florida where Welcome Baptist Church stands houses my maternal side of our lineage. I took Savanna to see where her great grandmother, Danna (my Mema), her great-great grandmother, Gladys (my Granny), and her great-great-great grandmother, Laura (Grandma Keene, who I had the pleasure of knowing, passed when I was 7 years old) all lie in the family plot. I explained how she is the 6th generation of first born daughters from all these women who had come before her.

It was a celebratory and grounding Sunday. And the moments that spontaneously happened, I imagine, will live on in Savanna's memory as being significant. What was your most recent moving experience? Dream? Thought? Memory?

Melting Basket 34

Wax I would buy again from the previous basket include: CFTKR Cedar Sage & Blackberry (it was beautiful with an almost sangria feel to it after a while), Sugared Strawberry Spruce, Primitive Wishes, Chocolate Orchid, and Celtic Moonspice (sister picked a ton of favs), TDC Vintage Vanilla, VDC Blanche and Baby Jane, Streetman Cotton Candied Spruce Berries.

Sugar & Spice- Pink Lavender Mint Peppermint

Sugar & Spice- Blonde Moment Peach Margarita

Sugar & Spice- Pomegranate Pink Watermelon

Vintage Chic Scents- Cheryl's Stormy Weather

Beezy- Pink Peppermint

Lasting Scent Candles- Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

Front Porch- Vanilla Noel

Better Homes & Gardens- Sugared Lavender Twist

Alamo Candelaria- Mama Cita

FussAss McGee- Rose Sandalwood

Rosegirls- Cherry Berry Punch Lemonade

Glitterati- Island Peach/Sangria White Peach

Glitterati- Cotton Candy

Glitterati- Raspberry Sangria

Haley's Heavenly Scents- Pink Coconut Noel

Haley's Heavenly Scents- Pink Fruit Loops

CFTKR- Serendipity Noel

CFTKR- Amazingly Grace

CFTKR- Spicy Kitchen

CFTKR- Mr. Bear in the Blackberry Patch

CFTKR- Raspberry Rainbow <3 gift

CFTKR- Jill's Strawberry Cream Jelly Roll <3 gift

If you would like an in-depth review of any of these, please comment and I will be happy to oblige.

A while back Bath & Body Works had a $3 handsoap sale so I sprung for a few that stood out to my nose. 

White Lily & Lime has a tart cleanness that smells wonderful on freshly washed hands. For some reason I do not enjoy my hands smelling like bakery or candy. I need fresh and clean or pretty at the very least. This fulfills all three.

Rio Samba Sunset boasts notes of white amber, orange flower and musk. I must say this has to be the most unique handsoap scent from BBW that I have encountered. For me this falls squarely in the pretty category. It reminds me faintly of Amber Romance from VS but with more citrus and brightness. 

Hawaiian Pink Hibiscus mixes plumeria and guavas in a sweet tropical twist. Just plain pretty. 

Have you found any Bath & Body Works scents recently that surprised you? I think maybe they are stepping up the fragrance game. What are you washing your hands with?

Warmed Wax: TDC, VCS, & FP

Ten Digit Creations Basil, Sage, & Mint- This scent threw strong and mighty. On cold when I first smelled this back in December, it came across very fresh and green and herbal. As it melted, fully cured, the scent crystallized into something more sharply clean than an herb garden. It was still very much a lovely scent and very strong. Might repurchase if I am in the mood for more clean type scents.

Vintage Chic Scents Mamma Mia- This baby threw like a star quarterback. I really find that most VCS scents do well with sitting for a little while. Great for wax hoarders ;-) The creamy coconut and sultry gardenia tango like well synchronized partners. Mamma Mia! Is this good! 

Front Porch Sweet Pink Chiffon- Nice medium strong/strong throw with beautiful wafting aroma of Bath & Body Works Pink Chiffon and maybe something extra to further sweeten it. Something that feels kinda like Warm Vanilla Sugar. Repurchase for sure!

Melting Basket 29

From the last basket I would repurchase: CFTKR Ultimate Serendipity, CFTKR Serendipity Marshmallow Delight, CFTKR Iced Lemon Biscotti (reminded me of fruit loops), Beezy Apple Clove Butter.

Front Porch- Sweet Pink Chiffon

Vintage Chic Scents- Mamma Mia

Up The Creek- American Cream

Sniff My Tarts- Lavender Vanilla Coconut Milk/Lavender

JLCCW- Ava lon <3 gift

TDC- Basil Sage Mint

Streetman- Twitterpated 

Rosegirls- Blueberry Hill

Rosegirls- Strawberry Blonde

Rosegirls- Strawberry Mint Ice Cream

Rosegirls- Strawberry Jam/Sicilian Lemon Cookies/Royal Sugar Cookie

Rosegirls- Peppermint Coconut Marhsmallow

CFTKR- Frosted Sugar Cookie

CFTKR- Jamboree Delight <3 gift

CFTKR- Sweater Weather

CFTKR- Blackberry Jam Filled Birthday Cake

CFTKR- Cotton Candy Frosting <3 gift

If you would like to know more about any scents above in depth, I will be happy to review them. 

If you follow me on IG (TheRedolentMermaid or Julie Johnson), then you might have known I was going to post about this. It is almost the end of strawberry season here in central Florida (the Strawberry Festival is going on right now as I type). Strawberry fields were ripe for the picking. So Adam and I loaded up the girls after church and did just that for the bargain price of $0.50 per quart. So juicy and amazingly sweet. 

Do you ever go to U-Picks? What are some of your favorite things to pick? We also love blueberry season, which usually falls around April. 

Melting Basket 26

Scents I would repurchase from my last basket include: Front Porch Moonspice Sugar Cookie Dough Bread, Vintage Chic Scents Pin Curls & Finger Waves, Beezy Amish Quilt, Long Cane Primitives Toasted Marshmallow Blue Ribbon Cookies, Ten Digit Creations Chocolate Orchid, Rosegirls BZB/Celtic Moonspice/Royal Sugar Cookie, Sniff My Tarts Peggy's Blueberry Noel dipped Sticky Marshmallow. Whew. Lots to love in that basket.

CFTKR- Orange Juice Cake <3 gift

CFTKR- Aspen Winter <3 gift

Super Tarts- Beauty and the Beast

Super Tarts- Once Upon A Time

Super Tarts- Doctor WHo <3 gift

Super Tarts- White Walkers <3 gift

Glitterati- Purple Rain

Glitterati- Mandarin Peach & Sangria White Peach

Ava's Country Cupboard- Butter Fudge Baklava <3 gift

Front Porch- Marshmallow Peppermint Twist

Tiffany- Lavender Marshmallow + Pink Peppermint <3 gift

Tiffany- Blackberry Jam Butter Cookies + Marshmallow Zucchini Bread 

Ten Digit Creations- Marshmallow Fireside

iheartwax- Lavender Ice Cream Scoop Bread <3 gift

Book Scents- Fiery Cross

Streetman- Spice Bread

Rosegirls- Circus Concession

Rosegirls- Sweet Lavender Marshmallow Smoothie

Sniff My Tarts- Wildberry Mousse/Zucchini Bread/Toasted Marshmallow

Sniff My Tarts- Warm Vanilla Sugar/Leather/Vanilla Extract

Better Homes & Gardens- Sugared Lavender Twist <3 gift

Scentsationals- Pretty In Pink <3 gift

If you would like to hear more about any of these scents in particular, please comment and I will do an in depth review. 

While moseying about town earlier in January, I uncovered a few home decor treasures. The chalkboard fish was on clearance at Marshall's for $7. The girls love writing on it. Scarlette left this message most recently.

This arrangement sits on the cabinets above my sink in the kitchen. I have been on the look out for something to stick in the white wooden urn for the longest time but nothing seemed to fit until I found this seashell spray of sticks and bits at Kirkland's. I tend to find things I like for my home though when I am not really scouting.

How is your February starting out? Did you order from Candles From the Keeping Room or Rosegirls? I grabbed most of my wax budget's worth from Carol this time around. Rosegirls is currently open (YAY!) and I bought a few bags from there too but I am hoping Rosegirls stays open like Jenny plans so I can buy more from her next month. Time will tell. 

Melting Basket 25

Wax from the last basket I would repurchase include: CFTKR Strawberry Peppermint Finally! A berry and mint I can get down with. The fresh, realistic berry is what makes this. No medicinal properties at all, TBG Flowers & Frost, RG Frosted Streuselkuchen.

Front Porch- Coconut Extreme Peppermint

Front Porch- Moonspice Sugar Cookie Dough Bread <3 gift

Vinatge Chic Scents- Edelweiss <3 gift

Vintage Chic Scents- Pin Curls & Finger Waves

Enchanted Candle Company- Til Death <3 gift

Thirty Street- Purple Castles <3 gift

Beezy Tarts- Amish Quilt

Glitterati- Lavender Rosemary Vanilla Mint <3 gift (in exchange for sewing TMNT masks, you know you are a waxy when friends gift you wax in exchange for services LOL!)

Long Can Primitives- Toasted Marshmallow Blue Ribbon Cookies

Ten Digit Creations- Chocolate Orchid <3 gift

Ten Digit Creations- Aspen Winter

Missouri River Soap- Fruity Rice Krispies

Rosegirls- Baked Zucchini Bread/Celtic Moonspice/ Royal Sugar Cookie OP pie slice

Sniff My Tarts- Orange Chiffon dipped Marshmallow

Sniff My Tarts- Peggy's Blueberry Noel dipped Marshmallow

Sniff My Tarts- Spicy Eggnog dipped Marshmallow

If you are curious about any of these scents please holler. I will review them for you. 

I have a few new decorations I wanted to share. My Mother-In-Law gifted me this pretty whitewashed wooden mermaid for Christmas. I knew right where she was going to live, next door to the iron seahorse.

I also got the coolest corner shelf made from an old reclaimed door (the glass door knob even works!). My sister Darby and I saw these in an antique store in Plant City and we were gaga over them. She surprised me with one for Christmas. I am still flabbergasted by her generosity. So sweet and appreciated! I am tossing around the idea of white washing it a bit more, still leaving it distressed, and painting the shelves bright colors. 

The light up "J" was at Books-A-Million and I just so happened to have a gift card handy from a sweet student. It had to come home with me. 

Any decorating going on in your home? Cool thrift store finds? Thinking of re-purposing something?

Front Porch: Christmas Gift Certificate Order

My very first wax gift certificate came from my sister Darby, and it burned a fearsome hole in my pocket. Straightaway I placed an order.

Coconut Cream Pie bursts with vanilla coconut cream and perhaps a thin flaky pie crust touch. Front Porch does a most excellent coconut. 

Sweet Pink Chiffon had to come home with me. While Black Friday shopping with my sisters in Bath & Body Works and standing in that insanely long line that loops about the store like some kind of nightmare Disney line, it left me a lot of time to sniff every scent I could reach. The first one was Pink Chiffon. I forgot how much I enjoy this scent as a home fragrance, especially as a lighthearted spring scent or for the girls' bedrooms. 

Coconut Extreme Peppermint makes my nose hairs freeze, just how I like my mints. Extreme. 

Wintergreen & Peppermint ended up going home with my sister Darby. I am not sure what I was expecting. I dislike wintergreen gum and one too many malodorous wintergreen cans of Skoal and Copenhagen dip have infiltrated these nostrils. On cold sniff I got the shakes, but being the brave soul I am, I plowed ahead and popped not one, but two into the warmers and hit the deck. After a few minutes Adam asked (with a slight lip curl) "What is that smell?!" "Wintergreen and peppermint, want me to dump it out?" Yes please. End of story.

Melting Basket 21 & Reviews

Tarts I would repurchase from the last basket include: RG Cinnamon Glazed Oranges bright and perky oranges paired with spicy hot cinnamon, RG  Cinnamon Pinecones, SMT Icecream Scoop Bread/Honey Gingerbread kicking myself for not ordering this recently, CFTKR Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies, CFTKR Santa Claw, CFTKR Spiced Orange, CFTKR Sugared Strawberry Spruce.

CFTKR- Cranberry Balsam

CFTKR- Christmas Cabin

CFTKR- Deck The Halls <3 gift

CFTKR- Primitive Wishes <3 gift

iheartwax- Rosemary Mint Vanilla <3 gift

Better Homes & Gardens- Snowy Winter Woods <3 gift

Better Homes & Gardens- Frosty Winter Nights <3 gift

SMT- Frosty Pine

SMT- North Woods Christmas

SMT- Winter Berry

Butterfly Lane- Pumpkin Crunch Cake <3 gift

Ten Digit Creations- Cinnamon & Balsam 

Rosegirls- Peppermint/Vanilla Bean Noel/Christmas Past

Rosegirls- Gingerbread Man

Front Porch- Home for the Holidays & Sweet Pine Noel

Pine forest home here I come! If you would like to know about anything in particular more in depth just let me know! 

Sugared Strawberry Spruce from Candles From the Keeping Room really wowed me. I was skeptical of how strawberry and spruce would meld but I should have known better than to doubt Carol's mad magic skills with her superb strawberry. The fresh realistic strawberry and out of doors evergreen paints a picture of a wild strawberry patch, the berries glowing like small red rubies, thriving in a clearing cradled by spruce trees sparkling with snow. Once I discovered the beauty of this ol' gal the bittersweet realization that it was my only one came upon me. But better to have smelt than to never have smelt at all. Right? Please say yes. Oh! Yes, this one threw strong and about 4-5 hours. Loved it. Repurchase.

Santa Claw from Candles From the Keeping Room is a tart sweet and delectable enough to even make Oogie Boogie sit up and be nice to old Sandy Claws. It reminded me of flaky pastries drizzled with honey and frosting. Actually, after reading Scorpio Races, I bet this is what November cakes smell like. Yum. There was little to no spice detected. Repurchase.

I fell in love with this book initial at Books-A-Million and knew it had to sit on my fabric cabinet next to my much loved book page wreath. Have you found any unexpected treasures while browsing the stores for gifts recently? 

Front Porch: Pink Chill Review

Told ya another minty pink thing from Front Porch was coming. Pink Chill is a blend of pink sugar, peppermint, vanilla noel and warm sweet sugar (or something like that). The peppermint is toned down by all the extra vanilla sugar notes. One grubby threw medium strong for about 5-6 hours in my bedroom. It was a pleasant twist on an old stand-by that I look forward to melting more of in the future. 

The snowman and polar bear wanted to say "hello."