Today, I’m happy to report my hand-poured mason jar soy candles are in stock and ready to ship! The truck just delivered them and my studio is filled with such lovely pumpkin spice & apple aromas. All I need is a cozy sweater and Pumpkin Spiced Latte and I will be set, right?

Allow me to share you a journey of these sweet little candles…

Over a year and a half ago, I sat in the room at the very first Stationery Academy and shared some of the big dreams I had for myself to the group. They were things I hadn’t said aloud before, let alone put on paper.

It makes me smile to think of the powerful results that have come from this activity. I even encourage this same action – the naming of your biggest dreams and goals – to the new friends I meet at AH Inspired. I encourage them post them on their blog and put them out there into the universe. As they say… “if you can name it, you can claim it!”

So, that afternoon in Pensacola, I listed off some various things – some things I still have in my heart to want and work toward – but randomly, out of nowhere, I said,

“I want to make a candle. An “Amber Housley” candle. It will be cute and southern and homemade and come in a cute mason jar.”

Now developing a candle isn’t usually on someone’s big dreams list, but it was on mine. And finally this summer, I set about to make it happen.

Allow me to introduce you to the AH soy candle holiday collection that is: cute, southern, homemade and of course, packaged in a cute mason jar:

Here are some of the fabulous features of these candles.
These darling half-pint 8 ounce mason jar candles are replicas of good old fashioned canning jars with the words “mason” engraved in the glass.

- made from 100% soybean wax
- does not emit toxins while burning
- emits an incredibly small amount of soot
- biodegradable
- water-soluble
- burns cooler and slower
- renewable resource
- supports US farmers and our own economic growth

Burn time is 55-65 hours.
The maximum recommended burn time is 4 hours per burn.

 The holiday soy candle collection is available now in the Sweet Tea & Lemonade Pop-Up Shop. There is a set of each style that would make a wonderful gift this season! How cute would it be to package them up as a gift for a friend in in an antique wire basket with burlap and fall leaves or pinecones like I did for this picture?!

I can’t wait for you to enjoy these as much as I have enjoyed creating them!

Congrats to the winner of our Pin it to Win it contest for our new Fall plates in the Sweet Tea & Lemonade shop:

Jessica Clinch

You can see all of Jessica’s cute fall inspired pins at her pinterest board here: http://pinterest.com/jmarieclinch/fall-festivities/

A few of my favorite pins from Jessica’s Fall inspiration board:

You can also visit my Fall inspiration board and Amber Housley on Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/amberhousley/fall-fun/

Congrats again Jessica!

I’m celebrating the launch of some adorable Fall – Halloween – Thanksgiving products in my new Etsy pop-up shop with a special Pin it to Win it contest!

Fall is my most favorite season of all – the decorations, the parties, the weather – and I love going through Pinterest to find new ideas. Won’t you share with me some of your favorite ideas for the autumn season and also let me know what your favorite product is from the newly launched Sweet Tea & Lemonade shop?  Here are all the details of the contest that is open now through September 29.

Good Luck! I can’t wait to see what y’all come up with! Want to take a peek at what I’ve pinned so far for Fall? See my Fall Fun Pinterest board here.

I’m excited to announce the Fall edition of my pop-up shop is now open on Etsy.com!

I’ve stocked my Etsy shop full of adorable custom plates and platters that can be personalized to your family. These Halloween & Thanksgiving keepsakes will be fun to use year after year.

A fun and cheerful Halloween delight for your favorite ghouls and goblins! Dress up your table this Fall with this custom personalized melamine plate in chevron orange pattern with an adorably spooky haunted house!

This 10″ melamine plate can be customized with either a first name or a family name. Example: “Addyson” or “The Smith Family”. The message “Happy Halloween!” will be printed above the name. This will be a great gift and keepsake to use each year!

Plates + Platters + cuteness overload! = Oh my!

My sweet friend Cyn Kain was here last week to capture all of the Fall product festivities (not to mention photograph ALL of the everyday products that are launching on my birthday, October 4th!!). Get excited friends, it’s going to be amazing! I can hardly wait to share.

This little black cat Halloween plate is a favorite! I love the modern and bold black & white pattern. “No tricks, just treats!” is printed underneath the personalized name. This is also available in a platter design.

Halloween designs are available for order for a limited time only through October 17, 2013.

And our next favorite holiday on the calendar : Thanksgiving!

Gobble! Gobble! This adorable little owl is dressed up in Thanksgiving’s favorite mascot. What a fantastic addition to your Thanksgiving children’s table this Fall with a custom personalized melamine plate in harvest pattern with a super sweet turkey.

As with all of these, we want you to receive and enjoy your plates and platters as soon as possible, so you will NOT receive a proof of customization prior to production. Simply include the exact spelling and capitalization for how you would like your plate customized in the “notes to seller” section at Etsy checkout, and we will print exactly as you type it.

Thanksgiving designs are available for order for a limited time only through November 5, 2012.

Thanks so much for your kind words and support of these Fall designs. They are only a fraction of the goodness that is to come in just a few short weeks when the official Sweet Tea & Lemonade shop opens!

Last month, as I was prepping for a Chili Cook-off contest (which I came home with the prize wining trophy!), I decided I needed a festive Fall flower arrangement for my tasting table. I ran to Publix (where I can always find great flowers!) and picked up some fresh florals in their 3 for $10 section. Sunflowers were a natural choice since they always pair well with red and white checkered flag table cloths. I also chose some cheerful yellow spider mums since they have great texture and make a good filler.

I then went into the backyard to cut a few late-season but pretty-as-ever dahlias. This was my first year growing this variety of reddish-orange with yellow tip dahlias, and they did not disappoint! I’ll share soon how easy it is to grow my beloved dahlia flowers, but just know they are incredibly easy and plentiful to grow. I was really surprised at how long the season lasted in my yard this year.

With the sunflowers and dahlias mixed together, I thought it would be fun to stick in a few faux fall leaves (again from Publix). After I put the arrangement together, I realized what a great Thanksgiving table centerpiece this would make! That is when the impromptu photo session on my small kitchen nook table began…I call it: “Sweet and Simple Thanksgiving Tablescape for Small Spaces”.

I have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! Warm wishes to you and your family this holiday weekend!