Chanukah Candles

[fauxklore]

For complicated reasons (mostly involving travel), I have often had some Chanukah candles left over. I’ve saved them in a plastic bag in what I think of as not quite a junk drawer, which also has matchbooks, batteries, toothpicks, and pie weights. This year, I saw that I had a full box of the cheap sort of candles, but also that I had almost enough of the taller fancier candles. I’m trying to use those up, but I’m not sure that I have quite enough for the entire holiday. I also just realized I should really have separated the assorted leftover ones by height. I did part of that already and have now used up the last of the beeswax candles I bought one year. I didn’t particularly like those, because I think they burn too quickly.

I need to remember to put candles on my shopping list under the assumption that they’ll be on clearance sale just after Chanukah is over.

Comments

[cellio]

I have a box of odds and ends -- sometimes extras because of traveling, occasionally dip into it to allow a friend to light at my house, sort of a candle "slush fund". But yeah, I do have to pay attention to lengths when trying to use them together.

I bought beeswax candles one year because I like other beeswax candles, but these ones burned quickly and very unevenly. I don't know if it was those specific candles or a more general problem, but since I haven't seen beeswax candles locally (so I could look at them before buying), I haven't tried again.

[matsushima]

I need to remember to put candles on my shopping list under the assumption that they’ll be on clearance sale just after Chanukah is over.
Oh, that's smart. I'll have to ask my mom to pick some up for me after the holiday and I can pack them in my suitcase when I visit next summer - it's basically impossible to get them here.

[snippy]

I have tried to find "on sale" (lower priced) hanukkah candles every year with no success, so would appreciate your sharing where you find them if you do.

I use the odds and ends of boxes to light other candles around the apartment during power outages rather than using multiple matches.

Once (20 years ago or more) I bought a kit to make beeswax candles. It was the requisite number of pre-cut sheets, dyed in an array of basic colors (red-yellow-green-blue), to wrap around the supplied pre-cut wicks. While I think it was aimed at children I had great fun producing my own candles that year, and they were well made and burned for over an hour. I wish I could find that kit again. The only beeswax candles I can find now burn out in under 20 minutes. Since I sometimes set out more than one hanukkiah, I use the inadequate candles as a beautiful supplement to qualifying candles (i.e., one hanukkiah all kosher candles, the other all not).

[fauxklore]

As I mentioned in my latest post, Wegman's has Chanukah candles on sale. The smaller, more common, ones are roughly half price, while the nicer ones are about 25% off. But I am fairly sure Wegman's is only in the mud-Atlantic region. I haven't checked the other supermarkets near me.

[snippy]

I have heard of Wegman's but don't have it here (in the Pacific Northwest). My son does my shopping so I'll ask him to check around here. Thank you!