Smart Bitches 2017 Gift Guide, Volume 3

It’s shopping time, once again! I get so excited to write the gift guides each week, in part because I get to shop for everyone and share links and talk about things I think you’ll really like. And then you comment and email me lots more ideas and it’s just wonderful. So thank you.

Ready for round three of our annual gift guide?

Last week we talked about items that bring comfort and warmth, and prior to that  we were all about advent calendars. This week?

Candles!

I confess, until very recently, I was not into candles. I had small children, and I had not-entirely-smart cats who like to stick their faces into things, and I didn’t have safe places to keep a candle, much less a lit one. Even though you’re not supposed to blow out sabbath candles or Hanukkah candles, I did so regularly because…see above re: cats, children, and safety concerns.

But now that we’ve moved, in my house here I have a windowsill above the sink that’s deep enough for small pots but not deep enough for cat butt (they have tried and failed and don’t like being wet). And all the humans are older and wiser, at least somewhat (speaking for myself, there).

I have a small candle there that I light when I start cooking, a Market Spice Travel candle that smells like the Pike Place Market Spice tea, all orange and cinnamon. It’s lovely and makes the first floor smell wonderful – there’s a lot of scent in that little candle.

Market Spice Travel Candle, $5

There are several sizes of the Market Spice scent, in case you want larger, more assertive Market Spiciness in your candle selection:

Market Spice Candle, 4.5″ x 3″, $11

As I said, I never quite got the enthusiasm or fascination with candles, but having a small candle lit in my kitchen in the evening, especially now that the sun is going down earlier and earlier, looks beautiful and smells even better.

So when I asked for candle recommendations, boy howdy, did you deliver!

First, there’s a store in Shadyside, Pittsburgh, that I follow on Instagram, Lily & Val (I so very much want to visit the store the next time I travel back to my hometown), and they stock a candle from a Pennsylvania company called Candelle…and I really want, like, all of them.

Lily & Val have limited edition holiday options from Candelle, like Cozy Winter Vibes, which are my exact favorite kind of vibe, to be honest. The scent is a mix of “fresh orange slices with clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg,” and I’m entirely here for all of those fragrances. (In fact, when we were trying to sell our house, we got an offer after I boiled orange bits, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and bits of nutmeg and ginger on the stove for an hour before the house was open. I called it “Sell Your House Tea.”)

Another Candelle scent that I covet: Favorite Sweater, which promises the “comfy cozy sweater, smelling the fresh out of the dryer linen smell.”

They also have adorable pun candles, including I Like You a Waffle Lot, which smells like…yes, waffles ($16) and I Donut Know What I’d Do Without You, also $16.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention RedHeadedGirl’s review of the Yankee Candle scent “Mountain Lodge,” which smells, according to legend, like Chris Evans looks.

Yankee Candle Mountain Lodge, $13 + shipping

Katie wrote in to recommend Frostbeard Studio, which has candles AND a throughly delightful name: “They are local to me (based in Minneapolis), their candles are always book-themed, and they smell amazing.”

Headmaster’s Office, Old Books, Oxford Library, and Rainy Day Reads candles (and others), $18.

Katie said “book-themed,” didn’t she.

Amanda seconded Katie’s recommendation of Frostbeard, and also recommended Wick & Fable, who have great themed candles and gorgeous packaging for your gifting needs, too: “I bought some of their Wintersong candles.”

Wick & Fable also has candles inspired by Six of Crows, Pride & Prejudice, and a whole selection of candles inspired by Sarah J. Maas’ books, too. My favorite: Bookstagram, the Candle!

All the Wick & Fable candles are $6-18.

Claire says, ” I was reading the most recent post where you asked for candle suggestions, and fortuitously I was burning my current favorite, Burning Books by Hearth & Hammer.”

Burning Books Candle, $18.

“Thankfully this candle smells much better than burning actual books – it’s cinnamon, orange, and fir, so it’s a good fall/holiday/winter scent.”

Claire also recommends her favorite, “summer candle scent…usually Volcano by Capri Blue. Fruity and spicy citrusy, which I much prefer to floral scents.”

Capri Blue Volcano Candle, $26.

Linda says, “I LOVE the candles from Sihaya Designs.”

“My very favorite is her “Memory of Snow” ($12), as it makes me think of the perfect day in – a book, a warm blanket, and the fireplace going with a pie in the oven (and the kitchen magically cleaned up after ;p).”

Sihaya also has candles inspired by the Tudor queens, and I’m very curious about “Sisterhood of the Moon,” which is $12, and contains scents of “amber, crackling fires, woody oakmoss, and warm vanilla.”

If bookish candles have you making a list and extending it twice, here are some more lit and literary temptations!

Antique Books scent from Wether and Grey, $11 and up, contains scents of paper, vanilla, and leather.

Burn Candle Company has a Barrel-Aged Whiskey Candle, which starts at $9:

Their Fraser Fir and Oak Moss scent is also tempting my olfactory curiosity ($9 and up).

Two last things!

One: I LOVE hearing from you with suggestions for the gift guide. As I said at the beginning, if you’ve got ideas or suggestions, email me!

For example, in a future gift guide, I would like to feature some of your favorite candles – got any to suggest? 

I’m also working on gift guides for crafty folks, so if you have a crafting tool or organizer, or even a project you love, please share it with me? Thank you in advance!

Second: Any and all holiday and every day shopping you do through our affiliate links is immeasurably helpful to keeping the site going. I’m including links below for your convenience. Thank you in advance!

     

Happy shopping! I hope this year you both give and receive light and hope to keep going through the darkness.