This edition of The Stuff We Save is brought to you by candles. So many candles! And votive holders.

I worked for a candle company for a bit after college, but most of these candles came from my mom’s house. Maybe she worried about losing power and being found candle-less. I’d taken them with grand plans of repurposing them into cuter candles. And I did. I made several “tealights” with teacups also rescued from her house. That project was fun, as was giving away the tealights I’d created. When I finished, I did what my mom would have done: jammed all that stuff back into a closet for later.

Later never came. They’re still unused, un-repurposed, and a year dustier than last time I touched that box. Turns out that with this craft, for me, once was enough. If in the future I change my mind and feel a desperate urge to make candles, I will buy wax — preferably unscented! I’m keeping a some tapers in case of blackouts or romantic dinners and a few votive holders because those are festive, but the rest of this stuff is moving on.

Fun, but messy.

My messy crafting is topped only by my lazy photo styling. I didn’t even bother to move dishes.