The Tiny Joys Journal Volume 3
My eldest said to me this morning, “Ten school days left until we break up for the summer.”
I’m sorry... what???
Is he joking??
Ten school days?!
Most people look forward to the summer holidays. And I do too... sort of.
But it’s also a stark reminder that I need to have all the A/W stock ready for September, juggle three kids and a business, make sure we have a shed load of fun, and somehow get everyone measured, labelled and ready to go back to school before September rolls around again.
How does it come around so quickly every year?
Tiny Joy #3
Fresh Blooms
Whether you buy them for yourself, receive them as a gift or hand-pick them from the garden and arrange them into a bouquet, there’s just something about having fresh flowers in a vase at home. It feels bloody lovely.
I like to buy myself a bunch of blooms when I feel a bit glum - sometimes it’s the pick- me-up that you need.
What I’m Watching Right Now
I Will Find You – Netflix (8 part series)
I Will Find You is an eight-part mystery thriller that follows David Burroughs, a father wrongfully serving a life sentence for the murder of his young son.
Every time I thought I knew where it was going, it proved me wrong.
I don’t want to give too much away because half the fun is discovering it for yourself. But if you’re a crime thriller lover, this is definitely one for you.
It gets going almost immediately and will have you glaring at the screen at 1 am, wondering whether you should watch just one more episode.
I was hooked from the first episode.
It was exactly the dopamine dose I was looking for.
What I’m Loving Right Now
Boots Recycling.
If you didn’t know about this already, you’re in for a treat.
My mum first told me about the Boots recycling scheme and I remember thinking, I don’t get through enough beauty products to make this worthwhile.
How wrong was I?
The short version is this: recycle five eligible empty beauty or toiletry containers at Boots and you’ll receive a voucher worth £5 in Boots Advantage Card points when you spend £10 in store.
There are a couple of catches. You have to redeem the voucher on the same day you activate it, and once you activate it, you only have five minutes to use it. However, it’s honestly been so simple and I’ve built up my points really quickly.
The best part is that it’s not just beauty products you can recycle. Toothbrushes, toothbrush heads, toothpaste tubes, empty wipes packets, baby products, sun cream... the list goes on. Every week I seem to find something new that’s eligible.
I also never seem to struggle finding £10 worth of things to buy in Boots!
Not only are you earning points, but you’re also helping to reduce waste at the same time. Once I started, I genuinely couldn’t stop.
Download the Boots Scan2Recycle app and give it a go – I think you’ll be surprised how quickly those points add up.
What I’m Burning Right Now
Blackberry Bush
July has arrived and, for us at Embers & Roots, that means one thing… Blackberry Bush.
I absolutely adore this fragrance. I’ve been making it for 12 years and I still don’t tire of it. In fact, I think I love it even more now than I did back then.
It’s also one of the most potent fragrances we make. I know that isn’t for everyone, but it’s definitely for me.
What I love most is how authentic it smells. The herbal green notes stop it from being overly sweet and instead make it feel like you’ve stepped outdoors on a warm July day.
It’s fresh, uplifting and invigorating, with just the right balance of sweet and savoury.
This month, I’ve filled my whole house with it. It feels like July in a fragrance, and I’m planning to embrace everything this month has to offer.
What’s Going Down at HQ
The Knowledge Hub (TKH)
What is The Knowledge Hub (TKH)?
TKH is a place where I get to show off how brainy I am about candles.
Jokes.
I am a firm believer that if you’re effectively playing with fire in your own home, you should know what you’re doing, what you’re burning and understand the products you’re buying.
I’m also human and I know candle care isn’t always the most riveting thing to read about.
So instead of plastering tips, advice and information all over our social media, we decided to create a dedicated place on the website where you can browse everything at your own leisure.
Inside The Knowledge Hub you’ll find home fragrance care guides, expert advice and answers to the questions we get asked most often.
Everything in TKH has been written to help you get the very best from your candles and home fragrance. So if you’ve never had a look before, it’s well worth a browse.
You never know… you might actually enjoy the education.
A Thought to Leave You With
“Never underestimate what a bunch of flowers can do for a room - or your mood.”