Blog

As the holiday season draws closer, excitement begins to fill the air around Carlisle, Cumbria & across the UK!

The sweet festive smells of Christmas have been making their way around the workshop over the last few weeks as our team prepare hundreds of candles & wax melts, ready to take on our busiest time of the year.

Our recent release of 100x Christmas Gift Boxes sold out within an hour of launching (don't worry, more are on the way soon!). 

With more people than ever opting to 'shop local' this year, we've been overwhelmed by the support shown and are grateful to each & every single one of our incredible customers.

We absolutely love meeting & interacting with customers face-to-face, and what better way to do this than by attending Christmas Fairs in some of the busiest spots in Cumbria?

We'll be selling candles and wax melts at Christmas Fairs this year - but hurry, as they usually sell pretty quickly!

Cumbrian Christmas Fairs 2021

Saturday 13 Nov: Whitehaven Young Entrepreneurs Market (King St)

Saturday 20 Nov: Cockermouth Craft Fair (URC Reformed Church)

Saturday 11 Dec: Whitehaven Young Entrepreneurs Market (King St)

Whether you're buying candles for yourself, friends, family members or that special someone in your life, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Need any help with choosing the perfect gift? Get in touch & see how we can help!

A local candle company have been brightening people’s homes after working to make scented products for Bellway’s latest housing development.

The Victorian Candle Co., based at their workshop in Carlisle, Cumbria, were contacted by Bellway after they sought to offer something unique and personal to their customers.

A total of 500 Cumbrian candles were hand-poured, stickered and quality checked before heading to Seaford Grange, Bellway’s latest housing development based near Eastbourne in East Sussex.

Founded by brothers Aidan and Ru Blackett in early 2019 while both in full-time education, they now operate their candle business as their full-time careers and employ a small team of local people to help keep up with demand.

Aidan Blackett, Co-Founder at The Victorian Candle Co., said: “This was an incredible opportunity for us and our whole team were so excited to work with Bellway.”

“We’ve definitely progressed a long way as a company throughout the last year, and this marks another exciting step in our journey towards becoming a nationally-recognised brand.”

“Purchasing a new home is a special experience, and we’d like to thank Bellway for allowing us to become a part of that journey for so many people!”

Mark Harrop, Sales Director of Bellway Kent, said: “We take great pride in supporting small, independent businesses across all our developments. We often have the opportunity to do so with companies such as The Victorian Candle Co., who specialise in luxury household candles, which fits exactly with the lifestyle we’re offering to buyers at Seaford Grange.

“Thanks to the hard work of Aidan, Ru and their team, we are now able to offer all our residents at Seaford Grange a bespoke, handcrafted scented candle on completion into their brand new Bellway property which is a really nice touch for our customers to be welcomed with.

“We would absolutely recommend The Victorian Candle Co. to anybody and would like to extend our thanks once again to them for being a valued supplier as we continue our mission to deliver homes at this development.”

Founded in 1946 in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Bellway Homes are one of the UK’s largest house builders with a staff count of over 3,000.

Bellway Kent is currently building new homes at Seaford Grange, off Newlands Road. The development comprises a mix of apartments houses, with prices currently starting from £415,995 for a three-bedroom semi-detached home.

For more information, call 0132 330 6012 or visit www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/kent/seaford-grange

The Victorian Candle Co.’s products can be found online at their website: www.victoriancandle.co

Keeping up with demand for our made-to-order candles has been one of our biggest challenges this year, and we’ve been working hard to tackle this.

We've been experimenting with a few fun DIY projects that you can easily do from home. All you need is one of our candle tins, some soil and a seed or small plant!

Here's what the final result should look like...

To make your own planter, follow these simple steps: 

• Make sure that your candle has burned until it has about 1cm of wax remaining, then let the wax cool until it's solid.
• Pour a kettle-full of boiling hot water into the tin, then let it cool for a few hours (until a disk of wax floats to the top and is solid).
• 'Pop' out the disk then wipe the inside of the tin with a paper towel or cloth. 
• If the wick is loose, use a pair of tweezers or pliers to remove it. If not, pour more boiling water onto the wick base to loosen the adhesive then remove it.
• Once the tin is clean, fill it with soil and plant a seed of your choice!
• Grow your plant on a window sill until it's big enough to transfer outside.

Once you've followed the steps above, we'd love to see some photos of your recycled planters and creations using our tins!

You can send them directly to us via Facebook, or send us an email at victoriancandleco@gmail.com

The festive period has sadly come to an end, so we've been reflecting on what it means to shop locally and the impact on the Cumbrian economy.

Since launching in March last year, the reaction to our candles has been amazing! We are so glad to share our products with more people who are looking for a sustainable, local and eco-friendly option.