I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, crafter, and blogger living in rural New England. As seen in Martha Stewart Living, Food Network Magazine, and more! | Tutorials, DIY, crafts, parenting tips, recipes, money saving tips, product reviews, local product features, New England living, intentional living, and more! |
As you know by now, I love sharing about companies and products we love on the blog and our Instagram - and most especially those made right here in New England! Next in our series of interviews from New England Makers, we have Carrie Meier from Wolfeboro Candle Company!
Wolfeboro Candle Company is best known for their New Hampshire-inspired wooden wick soy candles. Each scent is developed by Carrie to capture the essence of New Hampshire's diverse regions, and each candle is hand-poured and made by her right here in New Hampshire. Recently Carrie has expanded to offer scented soy wax melts in addition to candles, and will be expanding the candle line in the future.
Tell me a little about yourself and your business.
Carrie Meier: I'm a wife, new mom, and creative person living in rural New Hampshire.
How did you start Wolfeboro Candle Company? Had you been making candles for a while or was this a new leap for you?
CM: I started Wolfeboro Candle Co in Spring 2016. At the time, I owned a small gift shop in downtown Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted for the store (locally made wood wick soy candles), so my supportive husband suggested I start making them myself. I had never made candles before, but I've been a creative person most of my life and decided I would give it a try. We ordered supplies, wax, and a variety of containers and fragrances to mess with. After lots of reading, and trial and error, I figured out the best technique for me and the best temperatures for different stages of the candle making process. Next came figuring out the branding side of it - what do we call ourselves? What fragrances/blends, and fragrance names will work best for the image we want to create? Being also on the retail side of the business, I came up with the names and fragrances that I thought would sell best not only in our store, but for potentially other stores in the future.
What does a typical day look like for you?
CM: Well a typical day doesn't doesn't necessarily involve making candles (we aren't to that demand - yet!), but I also try to make large batches at a time as the set up, warm up, and clean up processes can add up doing lots of small batches. In addition to making candles, I have also recently been setting up a new website, updating my Etsy site, creating our new wax melts, and testing out new containers and fragrances for a new line of candles.
What is your favorite part about owning your own company? And least favorite part?
CM: I love being able to be creative, with the additional reward of selling a product and having feedback from people who use what I have made. I suppose if there is a downside to this project, it's moving all the 50 pound boxes of wax around!
A custom-branded candle - Wolfeboro Candle Company also offers custom scent and label options for buisnesses, wedding favors, and more!
What has been the most exciting moment for Wolfeboro Candle Company since you started?
CM: I think the most exciting moments are obtaining new retailers, coming up with new products, and receiving positive feedback. Positive reviews from customers never get old!
What advice do you have for people just starting out?
CM: Ask yourself - what are your goals? If you want to have a side business that is more about an enjoyable hobby that you can profit from, rather than just a job and business, then stick with what you can see yourself doing over and over again but still enjoy. I say that candle making is both an art and a science, which is what makes it enjoyable for me, in addition to coming up with new ideas and having the ability to add on new products when I'm able to.
What is your long-term goal? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
CM: I'd like to continue growing the business and make our way into more retailers both in New Hampshire and in neighboring states. I'm working on a new candle line with a slightly new look, different sizes and fragrances, and that are not based on our state of New Hampshire in order to reach a larger audience.
Do you own a New England-based business and would like to be featured in an upcoming interview? Or would you be interested in having me style, review, and feature one of your products? Please drop me a note.
I'm a big fan of supporting small/local companies as well as shopping secondhand when I can. I consign a lot and often use the money earned from the consignment shop towards new items - that way in a sense we're just "trading up" and not spending a lot out of pocket.
I thought I'd share some outfit details from a recent wedding we attended to show how you can pull these things together. This dress is Lauren by Ralph Lauren (I couldn't find the exact one to link, but here is a similar one - affiliate link), and I bought it second-hand at a NH-based consignment store called M&C. Because I had store credit from consigning some things there, I only had to pay a whopping 62 cents out of pocket for it! The leather "Buoy Block Clutch" is from Maine-based company Eklund Griffin, and while it can be considered an investment piece it's definitely something that's well-made and timeless and will get a lot of use for many years to come. Finally the gold necklace is from The Silver Wren on Etsy - a small shop that makes beautiful hand-stamped jewelry. I had this necklace made with our daughters' initials and love that I can wear it dressed up or down.
By spending your money wisely, you can get the most impact by saving big shopping second-hand and supporting small and local companies when you can. Happy shopping!
I recently made this custom herb planter as part of our wedding gift for some close friends and I just love how it came out! I'd love to add something similar to the Etsy shop but not sure how to ship it... hmmmm.
PS - Congratulations again to the happy couple!! We're so happy for you both!
This week I’m hosting a Giveaway for one of our Custom Zip Code Signs! Entering is easy on Instagram, so please look for this photo on my account for details and to enter - good luck!
So excited to say that our ornaments are now being carried at the beautiful farm + table in Kennebunkport, Maine! This eclectic gift shop features lots of handmade and small-batch goods made by artisans all over the country and I’m so honored to be included.
Make sure to stop in next time you’re in the area!
A few months ago, Food Network Magazine emailed me and asked if I'd be interested in designing a New Hampshire-themed egg for their Easter issue! I was completely blown away and honored for the opportunity. My New Hampshire egg design was a gold-dipped, faux birch bark egg - gold-dipped to represent our State House with it's golden dome, and the birch bark paint finish to represent our our state tree, the white birch. Fun Fact: My great-grandfather was a steeplejack and did the gold leaf on the New Hampshire capitol dome back in the 1920's! | This post contains affiliate links |
Creating one of these gold-dipped birch eggs for yourself is pretty simple! Here's the full how-to:
Materials:
faux egg (for the Food Network Magazine example and most of the photos in this how-to, I used an Eggnot, a fake ceramic egg - but you could also use a wooden egg. If you use real hardboiled eggs I would not recommend eating them after painting)
white acrylic paint (if your fake egg isn't already white to begin with)
paper cup
thin paintbrush
tinfoil to make a stand for the egg to dry on
How-to:
1. First, make a tinfoil ring to hold your egg while it dries between steps. Then if your egg isn't already white, paint white and allow to dry between coats. It may need several coats of paint.
2. Next shake the gold acrylic paint well and pour about half an inch of it into a small paper cup. Dip the top of the egg carefully into the cup. (I found it best to to do the gold-dip first, then paint the bark pattern after since sometimes the black lines were visible under the gold-dip.) Gold paint tends to be thick and you may have some swirling or thick drips after dipping. You can try to smooth these out a bit with a paintbrush but it usually looks cleaner if you just leave it as-is, even if you end up with a thick spot within the dip. After the gold dip, carefully place the egg in the tinfoil ring to dry.
3. Once the gold-dip is dry, use a thin paint brush to paint horizontal black lines on the egg, all the way around. Vary the placement and thickness of the lines a bit to mimic the look of birch bark. You may have to carefully hold the egg for a few minutes to let it air dry a bit before carefully setting it, gold top down, into the tinfoil ring to finish drying.
And that's it! While making them can be tedious with the drying time between steps, it's really quite easy. And in the event you don't feel like tackling this project yourself, I have a limited supply of painted Wooden Gold-Dipped Birch Eggs in my Etsy Shop!
Incredibly honored and excited to say that I designed and painted the New Hampshire egg for the latest issue of Food Network Magazine! I was completely blown away when they sent me an email last November, asking if I wanted to be a contributor for this piece (um, YES!) and it’s so exciting to finally see it in print! Thank you, Food Network Magazine!
If you want to make your own NH-inspired egg, please check out my full tutorial HERE.
PS - Make sure to pick up a copy, so many creative eggs from every state - not to mention all the yummy recipes!
It's been a long time coming but our first sign design has finally hit the Etsy Shop! We now have custom zip code signs available - perfect for a housewarming, wedding, or graduation gift. These signs are available in five different finishes so there's one to fit your decor style.
I'll be adding new sign designs over the coming weeks too so stay tuned for more!
