Who are we?

The truth is “We” is just me, Crystina (with a little help from my boyfriend). As someone with ADHD, I’ve bounced from hobby to hobby for years, never sticking with one long enough to actually get good at it. That is, until I started making candles - but let me start at the beginning.

On October 25, 2021, my mother passed from a long battle of stage 4 breast cancer. I spent most of my time helping her go to doctors appointments, cleaning her house when she didn’t have the energy, and spending as much time as possible with her, knowing that eventually she wouldn’t be around anymore. When that time did eventually come, it was heart breaking, but one of the worst things was I suddenly had so much time that I didn’t know what to do (which, if you’ve lost a loved one, you know being idle is the worst thing for you). I would go to work, come home and sleep, and go to work again.

Until I found a channel on YouTube, Memory Box Candle Co. Erica had so many videos on how to make candles, how she built her company and especially on the mistakes that she made. That night, I bought a candle making kit on amazon. And I can proudly say that with that kit, my first candle was….. horrible. It barely had any smell at all, continued to go out every few minutes, and was awkward to make. This got me hooked and I tried and tried again. That year for my birthday, May 2022, I asked my brother for a wax melting pot.

I spent the next year and a half testing different scents, playing with different jars, and figuring out exactly how to make a good candle. The amount of creativity AND science that goes into this craft is intoxicating. There is so much to learn and experiment with- and new things are invented everyday. While I was learning I had an over-abundance of candles that I would give to friends or family or even strangers just to get them out of my house.

That’s when I went to the Small Shops Mall. With a fairly low monthly fee, I decided to try selling my creations (to get rid of my growing candle collection). I started in November 2023 with almost no plan and made a lot of mistakes along the way. From labeling mistakes, to under pricing, mistakes were made and I’m sure I’ll make some more. I hope you’ll follow along with me as I learn and, hopefully, grow this business.