Rita Reviews

living my best possible southern life

The Craft Behind the Candles By: Rheney Williams

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Anthology Candles

 

If you had told me two years ago that I would now be a new mother, a “retired” attorney, and an entrepreneur – at the age of 33 – I would have laughed. Or, at least, politely told you that you were out of your mind.

Back in 2013, I was a practicing lawyer in Charleston, South Carolina and a full-time DIY writer for companies like The Home Depot and Tiny Prints by Shutterfly. Although I found the legal work to be challenging and the writing work to be creatively rewarding, like so many other women today, I wanted to be my own boss.

When I became pregnant with my son (he is now almost 9 months old), I was faced with a “now or never” breakthrough moment. After all, having a baby means you are forced to stop working for at least some amount of time and when it’s time to go back to work, it’s the perfect opportunity to start fresh. And really, new babies sleep ALL the time and basically take care of themselves so it should be a piece of cake, right?

Ok, so I wasn’t that hopelessly clueless but the underlying premise was accurate: It’s unlikely that this type of forced stillness would ever come again so now’s the time to make something happen. But what?

I learned how to make candles while writing for Tiny Prints and when some of my Mason Jar candles were featured by Country Living.com, I thought, “There could be something here.” Although I have come a long way from those elementary efforts at chandlery – or, the business of candle-making, in layman’s terms – I was hooked!

I started to research and quickly realized that candles are one of the most saturated crafting careers you can choose; as my husband loves to remind me: “Everybody makes a candle.” Not to be deterred, I rationalized that just because everyone’s already doing it, that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t…it just means I have to do it differently.

So I began the brainstorming process and wondered: How can I separate myself from the packed pack and stand out while remaining true to who I am and what I love?

And it hit me: Music! Music was the first love of my life and will always be the non-human thing closest to my heart. I am a trained vocalist and my husband is a professional pianist – it makes perfect sense. Or scents!

I started developing candles inspired by my favorite music. Whether inspired by a particular style, song, lyric, or artist, I found ways to translate the music into candles and fragrances.

But what does music smell like?

“Defying Gravity” from Wicked the Musical (LOVE!) was one of the first candles I developed and still remains a top-selling favorite. Elphaba (the “Wicked Witch”) is discovering her power and realizing that she wants to soar, both literally, on a broomstick, and figuratively, without being held back or down by anyone else.

The song title itself implied air, lightness, floating, a lack of being weighed down. The lyrics support that: “So if you care to find me, look to the Western sky. As someone told me lately, ‘Everyone deserves a chance to fly!’”

Mix in some black cedar wood (from her broomstick, of course!) and juniper trees (she’s soaring through the woods so you must be able to smell trees!), along with the fresh outdoor air fragrances, and a Wickedly GREEN color (that took dozens of attempts to master), and you’ve got my “Defying Gravity” candle! And now you have a sense of what Elphaba experienced while soaring through the trees on her broomstick.

Because that’s what I do: I’m bringing your favorite music to life. The more I thought about it and what I love, as well as what might speak to other people, I thought: “Why stop at music? Why not look to bringing other types of art to life?”

That led me to Books and Classic Movies and “Anthology Candles” was born. An “anthology” is a collection of literary works compiled by the curator. In my case, the Anthologies are music, books, and classic movies. I help you “smell” your favorite Anthologies!

Whether you’re a fan of Game of Thrones (our “Winter is Coming” candle) or Gone With the Wind (“Tara”); The Lord of the Rings (“Rivendell”) or The Little Mermaid (“Part of Your World” and “Under the Sea”); Sherlock Holmes (“Sherlock’s Flat”), Ed Sheeran (“Thinking Out Loud,” “Autumn Leaves” and “I See Fire”) or Taylor Swift (“Blank Space”), I have a candle for that!

I custom blend the colors and fragrances to complement the corresponding music, book, or classic movie. I use natural soy wax, all natural fragrances and essential oils, and reusable or recyclable glass jars. Every candle I make is by hand and by heart.

Between being a first-time mother to a precious baby boy – he is just starting to crawl…I’m hoping chasing after him will take care of the rest of this baby weight! – and embarking on uncharted territory as a “mompreneur,” my days and my heart are full.

Thank you for taking a moment to visit the website (www.AnthologyCandles.com) and checking out our Music, Book, and Classic Movie-inspired candles.

If you can’t find the perfect gift for the Music, Book, and Classic Movie lover in your life, let me know! I am constantly developing new scents and who knows? You just might see your suggestion in our Anthologies!

So tell me, what Music, Book, or Classic Movie do you want to smell?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. What a great story behind the candles and also the inspiration! And doing your own craft you can be home with your little one!!

    • That’s a great idea, Shannon! Tipsy Cake, yum! I have delicious-smelling Kentucky Bourbon in a couple of the scents (Rick’s Cafe Americain, our Casablanca candle; and Friends in Low Places, our Country Music candle) and Cake is in Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. Combining the two could be phenomenal!

  5. This is so awesome I love how the music and characters are intertwined in the candles. I would love to see her come up with a candle for Dirty Dancing since its my favorite movie

    • Thank you, Jessica! Dirty Dancing is one of my faves, too! I will definitely start thinking about one for Baby and Johnny 😉

  6. What fun types of candles! I want to try the Ed Sheeran (“Thinking Out Loud,” “Autumn Leaves” and “I See Fire”) or Taylor Swift (“Blank Space”).

  7. What a creative idea! As a book, movie, and music lover, I love the idea of tying all these together with scent and franrance.

  9. Interesting take on candles, I would love a candle based off the smells of Sleepless in Seattle.

  12. How cool is that! (I adore Bedford Falls – subtle!). Being down south you might make a ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’ candle.

    • Thanks, Margot! Bedford Falls was my husband’s (the Classic Movie fanatic) idea 😉 I’ve never read “Midnight in the Garden…” but we just watched that movie a few months ago – love Kevin Spacey and Jude Law was so young! In the meantime, check out our Southern garden candle – Tara!

  13. I would love to smell “Defying Gravity” from Wicked the Musical. This was my favorite musical! I would love to go see it again, it just is a great play 🙂

    • Mine too, Betsy! I was listening to it in the car with my son a few days ago and was reminded of just how much I love the music. So fantastic! If you have a wax warmer, we have wax tarts in all of the scents (including Defying Gravity) if you’d like to check out a small amount before buying the full-sized candle. Or we have tea light samplers so you can try 6 different scents!

  16. These sound wonderful. It is a very hard thing to set yourself apart in such a big industry but I’ve never heard of anything like this and I’m very intrigued. Congrats on such a success at doing something you enjoy!