Hi everyone, Lisa here! I'm so excited to tell you about our brand new candle subscription program, plus some things you might not know about our handmade soy candles. 

 

Our candle making journey

Nearly 8 years ago, Steve and I opened The Rustic Barn home decor store in Killingworth, CT. It's hard to believe, especially now that we have a second location just down the road, but at first we only sold decor and custom furniture and were only open on the weekends. 

In between stocking the store and getting this business off the ground, I had some spare time to fill during the weekdays. I had always been curious about candle making, and decided to give it a go with my first batch of twelve candles in two scents. I was shocked; they sold out in one weekend, and people quickly started asking for more!

As The Rustic Barn grew, candles became a huge part of our business. Now, nearly 30,000 candles later, Seli (aka "The Boss") and I are pouring, wicking, and sending our hand crafted candles every day of the week.

 

 

Our scented candles are made from natural soy wax, right here in Connecticut

It was really important to me that if I was going to create something for my customers' homes that it be as clean and natural as possible. Soy wax isn't the easiest to work with - it can be tough to find the right amount of fragrance, the tops of candles can be bumpy, and there's a bit of a learning curve - but I knew it was the right choice for us. Once we mastered creating candles, we started creating our lineup of signature scents.

We carry more than 30 scents throughout the year, and I like to categorize them by season and by fragrance. These are the main categories of scents we carry:

Fresh and Floral: These candles are great for spring or summer with light, elegant notes of florals, linens, citrus fruits, and clean scents. If you're looking for an everyday candle for your home, you can't go wrong with a Fresh and Floral scent.

Musk and Earthy: Ideal for fall or for creating a warm, welcoming vibe during any season, our Musk and Earthy scents have notes like fallen leaves, tobacco, amber, and balsam. 

Oh So Sweet: My personal favorite, our sweet scents truly give character to a space and can create a sense of nostalgia. Some of my favorite sweet scents are Cranberry Marmalade, Summer Dreamz, and Country Fair.

But there's a clear bestselling category besides these main scent groups. By far the most candles we sell all year are during the Christmas Season when we release our limited edition Christmas candles! Most Christmas candles are available October through January only, but if you're lucky you'll find a scent or two there throughout the year. 

 

Beginning our candle subscription program

A few years ago we started selling candle subscriptions through another marketplace just to get the word out and spread our candles a bit further around the country. Every month we'd choose two seasonal bestsellers, package up an 8oz and a 4oz candle and send them around the states. As our list of subscribers grew, we had one constant request: people wanted to choose their scents each month!

That's what inspired us to bring our candle subscription program in-house, sell subscription boxes through our website, and make a huge change. We now allow customers to choose their scents each month, or opt to go with our picks!

 

There are two kinds of candle subscriptions you can choose from: month-to-month boxes or pre-paid boxes

Because candles make such great gifts, we decided to make an easy option for gift-givers possible. That's why in addition to our monthly subscription box, we offer a few pre-paid options. Here's how they work.

Month-to-month candle subscriptions (Shop!)

If you subscribe monthly to our candle subscription, you'll get your first box delivered with two surprise scents. In the box you'll get a postcard with a QR code to scan that will let you choose two scents, an 8oz and a 4oz, for the following month. Every month you'll have the option to choose your scents or let us decide what seasonal best sellers to include! Subscriptions are active until they are cancelled. 

Pre-paid candle subscription boxes (Shop!)

The perfect gift to yourself or a friend, pre-paid candle subscription boxes come in a few options:

3-month subscription (save 5% per box)

6-month subscription (save 10% per box)

12-month subscription (save 20% per box)

Seasonal subscription (delivered every 3 months for a year)

Just like our monthly subscriptions, we'll choose the scents for your first box, and then the recipient will get a QR code to scan to choose their candles each month after that. 

 

We hope you love our candles as much as we love creating them. 

As always, none of this would be possible without the support from our loyal customers and subscribers. Thank you all!