Janine Predmore
Candle maker, 38, Brick … in her own words

Interview by PATTI MARTIN
Photography by BOB BIELK
Read this article online!

IT ALL BEGAN with the Christmas gift of a candle making kit. I used to purchase many candles, and my husband thought I might like to make my own.

YOU KNOW WHAT? I love making candles.

WHY SOY? Well, we ruined our ceiling and walls with soot from burning paraffin candles and had to repaint twice. Instead of giving up our love for candles, we began researching a cleaner-burning alternative to paraffin candles. That journey led us to soy wax. Keeping my paint looking new, along with the many other benefits of soy, made “scents’’ to us. By supporting our American farmers and reducing our foreign oil dependency, how doesn’t that make “scents’’?

THE BEST THING about candle making is the flexibility to make and pour whatever we want. This allows our customers to experience the personalized attention they might not get elsewhere. Scent blends and custom unique scents are my favorite to create.

I’M PARTIAL TO anything that smells like food! Orange caramel crumble, almond biscotti and cookie jar would be my favorites in food scents. But I also love island mango, blue sea glass and our new melon mania scent.

OUR SCENTS come about in various ways. Some just pop into my head, some come about during a discussion at the dinner table, and quite often they are based on a customer’s request.

I BELIEVE THAT people enjoy the scents most of all. Having your home smell good from a candle, no matter what the scent choice, is a way of life for a lot of people. It’s a simple pleasure that’s well worth it.

CAN’T SAY THERE really is a worst thing about candle making, except for maybe pouring scents that I don’t care for that much and having to smell them all day.

TOO MANY CANDLES? One can never have too many candles!

WITH CANDLELIGHT and the right candle scent, you can transform any room and set the mood for a beautiful romantic evening.

IT’S GREAT WORKING with my husband. Even though we are complete opposites, when we work together, we create a perfect balance. I couldn’t have done any of this without him by my side.

PEOPLE ALWAYS ASK us where we get our candles from. They are almost always shocked to hear that we make them all by hand right here in Manasquan, N.J., about 30 feet from where they’re standing.