What the Wick

I use candles a lot in our apartment. I seem to always have at least one burning at all times while I am home. I happened to come across some candles at bath and body works and they have now become my two favorites. Whoever would have thought that lemon and mint would go so nice together? It makes my kitchen smell lovely.

I also came across three little candles that I liked at Michaels earlier in the year when all their candles were 50% off. However with these three I have had the same problem. When they get about half way burned through the wick falls out of its little metal holder and comes out of the wax. 

So what was I to do? I could not very well just throw out three candles. So I thought I would show you all how I have managed to get all three burning again. 

First, you need to get the wax out of the candle. I use my fiancé’s screw driver together the wax out by scraping it from around the sides. 

 

Then I took a candle plate and dumped all the wax out onto it so that I would still have it.

 

 I took the metal part that holds the wick and pulled it out of the glass. You are going to need to get all the wax out of the inside part where the wick should be. The best way to do this is to peel the hot glue from the bottom of it and then stick a toothpick through it.

  

 

Then I got some twine and cut a piece about two inches long. I used jute twine that came three rolls together at the dollar tree.

  I pulled the twine through the middle of the wick holder. Then I tied a knot in the bottom of the twine a cut off extra below the knot. Then you are going to get the hot glue and restick the entire thing to the bottom of the candle jar.

 

 

Once that dries you want to start restuffing the candle jar with wax. 

Once all the wax is back in the jar you will need to heat it up in the microwave. Put it in for a minute at a time and check it until the wax is partially melted. Yes I realize you are putting metal in the microwave so you are going to want to stay close to the microwave. Or if you are not as laid back stupid as me you can heat the wax in a glass container and poor it the jar as it melts.

Then you are going to push the non melted wax into the melted wax. This will make it melt as well. 

Once most of the wax is melted use the screw driver or a toothpick to make sure the wick is still stuck to the bottom. Once most of the wax is watery you can stick the entire candle into the freezer to harden.

 Once it is hard (should be about a half hour) you can remove it from the freezer. It is now good as new. What are some of your favorite candles?

Dirty dishes... Blessing or a curse?

So the one area of our apartment that truly bugs me if it is messy is the kitchen. It makes me feel like we are a bunch of pigs if it is not spick and span. Now many of you feel like the kitchen is your area of the house. You do the cooking so you also work to keep it clean. Well in our apartment that is not always the case. Usually my fiance cooks breakfast once a week on Sunday morning while i get ready for church and dinner once to twice a week while I am at bible study or have babysat that day.

I know I know I am very lucky to have a amazing man who can actually cook. I really am very very grateful to him for doing that and his food is amazing. However the part that I can not stand is when I leave the kitchen presentable and come home to this.  I feel as if I could lose my mind. I mean look at this huge mess. Who would want to come home to this? I realize he was nice enough to cook and that he made it easier for me to go have some me time but really? He could not have loaded the dish washer? So his feelings are that since I am the since he made a meal I can clean it up. Which would be nice if only he did the same thing and cleaned up after I made food.
Well that just was not going to be something that was going to happen so what is a girl to do?

Of course I always wind up cleaning it up and making sure that everything is put back where it goes by the time I go to bed.  So how do I do this three times a week without starting a fight? I look for the blessing amongst the dirty dishes. But what in the world could the blessing be? Well I came across this blog post by colorful cravings. I loved her quote on dirty dishes so much I decided to make my own with some paint, a wood plaque and some vinyl that I cut with my silhouette portrait. I think it turned out pretty cute and gives me just the reminder I need.

Twenty minutes later my kitchen is back to normal and I have kept my cool.

So how about you all, what is your pet peeve that your spouse/ significant other does? How do you get through them? What other blessings can you find in your daily chores?