Yankee Candle Village Trip

Just under two weeks ago we went to Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens and we just LOVED it!

What I didn't tell you all in that post was that we had originally planned our trip to head to the Yankee Candle Village shops and the butterfly conservatory was just a little side trip we took.  

We walked in the door at Yankee Candle and were immediately greeted with a map and a list of the day's specials.  Then we began walking around.  There are so many rooms to explore!  






The Yankee Candle Village is Yankee Candles Flagship store and they bring in thousands of visitors every year from all over the globe.  I'm really kicking myself for not taking a picture of the maps they have with pushpins showing all the visitors they get; it was so neat to see them!! 


I've been wanting to take a trip with my boys for a good year or so but really wanted to make sure to visit at Christmas time.  The store is filled with themed rooms, Christmas trees of all sorts and it really was a full day of fun. 



You can buy gifts, get pictures taken with Santa, and find lots of yummy treats for your tummy too.  We settled on some fudge and Ben & Jerry's ice cream for lunch but there was flavored popcorn, sandwiches, soups, chips and more too.

We sat and ate our lunch by the fountain and listened to a little animatronic stage show.



Then we headed off to explore their Christmas rooms.  We saw trees of all sorts and each picked our favorite.

Alec loved this baking tree with all the cute cupcake ornaments on it.



My favorite was this tree filled with white lights, glass and white ornaments and tons of sparkle.


You feel like you are walking through a village and there is even castle walls, a moat and a room where it snows!
The clock in the toy store counts down the time until Christmas.  Nearby the elves sing, dance, and packages move along tracks in the ceiling.




We spent a lot of time in a room that showcased all the different villages and village pieces they sell.


Evan LOVED this Christmas Story themed village complete with Ralphie fighting off the gang of bandit's he dreams about.



I had a hard time picking a favorite.  I loved the Mickey set, the Elf themed one, and the Christmas Vacation village.... I think if I had the room for it I'd set up a huge display with them all just like the store did!

Mickey Mouse themed village set 

Christmas Vacation set 

Elf set 



My boys loved this building in one of the other sets; the red candle bubbles and flickers. 

Once we had looked at the whole store;

  • The man cave area with candles, ornaments, and gifts themed around beer, animals, and trucks
  • The toy and candy stores
  • The area where you can make your own candles!  
  • The area where you can take a photo and personalize any glass jar candles
  • All the ornament and tree rooms 
  • The Candle emporium
  • The general store (the original storefront they first opened)
We headed to the museum store in the back and were just in time to catch a demonstration on beeswax candle making.  Our presenter was so knowledgeable about candles and started way back in the day of the pilgrims; before honey bees were even in New England! 



the shop housed all sorts of old candle molds, stands, and tools. 


He explained that mulberry candles were made using mulberry seeds; how the process could take up to two days and most women could only make 4 or 5 candles out of that!  So they saved them for special occasions like New Year's Eve.

They then went on to make candles from mutton fat.  We learned all about the various wicks burned through the ages and how many candles a traditional family would need for one winter (usually 150- 250!).

We finally learned that 1 lb of honeycomb would yield 1-2 four inch candles (shown in the photo below)

Yep, all that honeycomb for that one candle (maybe 2 if you were lucky)
 We learned about molded candles versus dipped candles too and that this was strictly women's work for the home with the help of their children.  Everything from harvesting sticks to tie the wicks onto, to making the actual wick, boiling down the fat or wax, and dipping each and every candle.

It takes and hour to an hour and a half to get from the empty wick at the start of this tale to the fat finished candles hanging on the other end. 


 
The jar of bayberries with the candles they still make today.  Bayberries were boiled until the waxy coating on the berry separated from the berry then the wax would be strained (repeatedly), allowed to cool and harden, and boiled back down to make candles.  No wonder it took a few days!


By the time the demonstration ended we were getting pretty tired of walking around and decided to call it a day.  It was a whole lot of fun though and we were so glad we had made the trip to check it all out. 

Linking Up With: Wonderful Wednesdays, Over the Moon,


by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo YoureTheStarHopLarge_zpsncuylahd.jpg

Comments

  1. WOW! WOW! WOW! I am totally putting this on my bucket list. Love it.
    Blessings, Dawn

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  2. My candle and festive loving heart be still, this is amazing and I would be in heaven! I bet the boys and you were, simply awesome!!

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    1. We were! I do wish I had bought just a few more things that I had found and talked myself out of though... Thinking we might need to take another trip up there next year.

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  3. I never knew this place existed, but am completely intrigued now! Thank you so much for sharing. I love that there were so many fun things to do. Will have to search for something that we can do in our own area (nashville) that's similar. What was your favorite part?

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    1. My favorite part was seeing all the villages; I just love Christmas villages and dream of having a set-up like that one day.

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  4. What a great place to visit and it looks so festive I love Yankee candles and would have been in my element. Love the festive displays. Mandy xx #explorerkids

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    1. I could not believe how festive it was. There were trees everywhere!

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  5. Wow, how cool is that? Someone has just given me a yankee candle from school, it is a Christmas cookie one and it smells so good. Sarah #ExplorerKids

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    1. I'm pretty sure that is one of the scents we settled on too. They do have really great smelling candles.

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  6. Oh wow this looks amazing! I didn't even know such a place exc
    Instead! I bet it smelled divine! #explorerkids

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    1. It did smell so good! We spent at least 20 minutes walking around the room smelling all the various melts trying to find our favorites.

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  7. Omg I had no idea such a place existed. I bet it smelled amazing. I would absolutely love to go there but no doubt I would come away wih s frw too many goodies. Thanks for joining us at #familyfun and have a lovely Christmas x

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    1. I held back a lot on what we bought and ever since we arrived home I've been kicking myself for not buying just a few more things I had my eye on. There as so much I wanted to buy that it was hard to choose and when overwhelmed I tend to walk away with nothing.

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  8. What a Wonderland! A friend was just telling us last week about all you can see at Yankee Candle - I had no idea! I have been thinking about visiting, but now we'll definitely make time to get over there. Thanks for the tour!

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    1. It really is quite fabulous! We didn't even see it all!

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  9. I didn't even know a place like this exist... the kids must have loved it, especially during Christmas time. Laura Ingirovagandomum #explorerkids

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    1. They really did! They're already asking to go back again one day.

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  10. It must smell so good in there and looks so pretty!

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  11. OMG! I'm so jealous! I have a friend who is mad about Yankee Candles. She has a house full of collection! This would make her day! I really like the cupcake tree. I wish I have one of those at home too. lol! I bet the smell of the shop is like heaven?! I can imagine that right now. Wish I could be there. xx

    Thank you very much for linking up with us on #ExplorerKids

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    Replies
    1. It does smell quite great and we had so much fun checking out each ornament on all of their many trees.

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