Candle Napkin DIY

Hey, y'all. If you're fans of Anne from Love the Here and Now (um, and if you're not... you totally should be because she's just amazing) then you probably remember this post from when I had taken over her blog for a day. It's getting closer and closer to the holidays (yay Thanksgiving and Christmas, and food oh my!) So I wanted to bring this post back in case any of my amazing readers will be hosting a holiday meal at their place!

For as long as I can remember, my Grandmother on my dad's side of the family has always made these napkin candles for all of our family functions. She taught me how to fold these when I was about 11 years old, and I've always remembered how to do it. (Good thing because now if I get to her house early for a family dinner she has me folding the napkins!) Today, I'm going to teach you! Who knows, it could be your fun new family tradition to pass along to your children and grand-children!

What you'll need
+ square, cloth napkin *
       *Grandma always uses cloth napkins and the real silver, so I have no clue if paper napkins work for this
+ these instructions.
[disclaimer: I don't own cloth napkins, but I do own bandannas so that's what we used for this!]

Start with your cloth napkin completely open, as flat as possible. 

Fold in half into a triangle. 

The bottom edge of the triangle then gets folded upwards about 1 inch.
**As you can see from my picture, the "about" is key; it doesn't have to be exact.**

Fold the outer-most part of the top corner down about 1 inch as well

Flip the whole thing over to where your folds are on the bottom

Begin rolling everything as seen below
Once you get to the end, leave a tiny corner
Stand everything up vertically
Tuck the tiny corner into the lip of the bottom of the "candle"

And there you have it, a napkin candle! You can make the "wick" look more like a candle depending on how far you fold the first top corner. Twist and play with the "wick" however you like.

I'd love to know if you try this! Let me know how your friends and / or family like it!

Holiday Overload... Already!

OK... so we've all seen the Halloween decor start to show up in the stores already, right? The pumpkin flavor everything, the cinnamon scented brooms, witch hats, etc. Don't get me wrong, I love everything about fall, and I especially LOVE everything about Christmas! (In case y'all forgot... my birthday is ON Christmas, and yes it rocks)
What I don't love is the fact decorations and advertising start so stinking early. Like, Halloween stuff started showing up in stores maybe a week after Zander started school.

Here's why:
// I have kids.

 More specifically: I have young kids. Kids have zero sense of time. Zero. So when Halloween and/or Christmas decorations start going up, the four year old starts begging to go trick or treating. Or, they start begging to see Santa Claus. I'm sorry y'all but I cannot make a paper chain for everything. We did one to count down to the first day of school, but I'm not about to spend a fortune on paper for chains. I already get bombed with advertisements on TV for the latest toy or gadget. And yes, Zander has already started the whole "Mommy! I have/need/want to have *fill in the blank with awesome new toy*" So as parents we usually play off with "well, maybe you need to ask Santa" for something that shows up after his birthday (and then write down the request to actually remember for "Santa"). I'm not sure if all kids have amazing memories like Zander, but this kids remembers everything. Especially if I told him "ask Santa for new ninja turtle slippers for Christmas". When he starts seeing signs of anything related to the holiday, well dangit obviously it's time to see Santa, Mommy! [face/palm]. I just can't handle it. Granted this is Ainsley's first year where she MIGHT actually get excited about something, but it's doubtful.

// One Holiday at a time, please!


Source

If it's Sept 17 and we haven't even gotten to Halloween, I do NOT want to see a single reindeer or stocking. And if you're wondering: yes, I have seen Christmas decor in September, especially at the malls. So to the marketing genius that thought people want to plan ahead and have to see Santa to remind them: you're wrong. I know Christmas is Dec 25. I know Halloween is Oct 31. They're on the same day every year. I don't need a reminder in my face three months ahead of time.

// I want to feel excited.

 Because of the above mentioned reason, I tend to feel less excited when it does get closer to the holiday it's supposed to be. I don't know if it's because I'm an adult or because the decor being out for too long. I feel like it's the decorations though. From October on, the holidays have always made me happy and excited. Now after seeing stuff out for ages it just feels like the excitement isn't there anymore. Maybe it's just me.

So what are we taking away from this today? I still love the holidays, I really do. Especially Christmas. Call me a grump or a scrooge all you want, I just ask that stores chill out with advertising and decorations. Please? Does anyone else feel the same way?