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Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Genuine Wax Flameless Candles — An Elegant Gift Everyone Will Love

One of my favorite gifts to give or receive is genuine wax flameless candles with a lovely, flickering "flame," a timer, and a remote control that lets me "light" them or "blow them out" from across the room at the touch of a button.

When flameless wax candles first came out, the quality of the "flame" from most manufacturers was pretty poor. Fortunately, the technology has improved and prices have come down a bit over the years. Now you can buy nice ones that are suitable for both gift-giving and home decor at moderate as well as premium prices.

Whether you buy a single flameless pillar candle, a pair of tapers, or a set of votives, they're sure to add beauty and timeless elegance to your home and be a gift that keeps on giving.

Gift and Decorate with Flameless Real Wax Candles

Flameless wax candles are elegant and safe to leave unattended.
My favorites also include a timer and remote control that let you "light" and "blow them out" from across the room.

Why Choose Flameless Candles?

Here are some of the qualities that make flameless candles appealing for both gifts and home decor, during the holidays and year-round.

Long-Lasting Beauty

These flameless candles let you enjoy the timeless beauty of genuine wax candles that never burn down. We have used ours frequently for many years with no end to our enjoyment in sight (unless we run out of batteries).

Flickering LED "Flame"

The flame on these LED flameless candles moves randomly to simulate the flicker of an open flame on a traditional wax candle. Close-up, of course, no one will mistake it for a real flame. However, from farther away, the "dancing flame" effect can be quite realistic.

No Drips

Unlike traditional candles with wicks, the wax body of these flameless candles remains at room temperature and won't melt or drip (unless you subject them to excessive heat). A grouping of pillars or some tapers make a lovely centerpiece that can't set your tablecloth on fire if they're accidentally knocked over while passing a serving dish. You could even use them on a finely finished antique wood table without fear of marring the surface.

No Smoke

Another advantage is that flameless candles are smoke-free. You can "burn" as many of these beautiful candles as your heart desires without worrying about setting off the smoke alarm! I love the look of candles everywhere, especially during the holidays.

Candlelight That's Safe for the Whole Family

Since there isn't an open flame, these flameless candles can be left unattended, unlike traditional wax candles. They're safe to leave on in your windows during the holidays. They provide a romantic glow in the bedroom, with no worries if you happen to fall asleep before turning them off.

They're also safe to use around children and pets.

Perfect for the Dark Winter Months

Here in New England, the winter months can be brutally cold and the sun sets quite early. We have flameless LED candles in nearly every room of our house, and during the winter we set them to turn on at dusk, so we never have to walk into a completely dark room. The LEDs draw very little power, so a set of batteries usually lasts us the whole winter and beyond.

Melted edge wax flameless pillar candles

Two of our Luminara flameless pillar candles with our set of three color-changing flameless pillars

Luminara Flameless Candles: Perfect for Gifting

There are many brands of flameless candles, and the quality can vary significantly. We've tried a few inexpensive brands and have mostly been disappointed. The brand we count on for consistently high quality is Luminara.

Luminara makes top-of-the-line flameless candles made of hand-poured paraffin wax. Most styles have a timer and a remote, and all are boxed for easy gift-giving.

The company offers a wide range of styles, from everyday essentials to specialty items like real birch flameless candles filled with paraffin wax (gorgeous for country or rustic home decor) and Christmas-themed styles.

Here are some of my favorites.

This set of three Luminara melted edge wax pillar candles is one of the company's best sellers. The graduated-height, 3-inch wide pillars are 4.5", 5.5" and 6.5" tall, respectively.

Luminara Realistic Artificial Moving Flame Pillar Candles - Set of 3 - Melted Top Edge, LED Battery Operated Lights - Unscented - Remote Included- 3" x 4.5", 3" x 5.5", 3" x 6.5" (Burgundy)

The included remote control operates all three candles. Even if you split them up and place them in three different locations, you can control each one with the same remote, which is very convenient.

These are unscented (although Luminara does make some scented styles), so they're ideal for someone who is sensitive to scents, has allergies, or prefers to use other home fragrance products such as potpourri or sprays.

These also come in a choice of colors. I think the burgundy is very festive for the holidays and would be great as an accent color in a mostly neutral decor palette, while ivory or white are more subtle and very elegant any time of year.

We own this set of three pillars in ivory as well as a tall pillar in a discontinued color (blue sage) that coordinates with our living room color scheme.

Another choice that will grace your or your gift recipient's dining table for years to come is this set of Luminara ivory flameless wax tapers.

Luminara Set of 2 Moving Flame LED Taper (1x9.75), Flameless Candle, Melted Edge, Smooth Wax, Unscented (Spring Lake)

Luminara Set of 2 Moving Flame LED Taper (1x9.75), Flameless Candle, Melted Edge, Smooth Wax, Unscented (Ivory)

Elegant wax tapers are a classic, timeless style for good reason. Classic elegance with the safety and convenience of a flameless "flame" is a win-win!

Measuring 1" wide by 9.75" high, these flameless tapers can be used in any standard taper candle holder. Even reheated leftovers can become a festive meal with these flickering beauties on the dining table.

Although these do not come with a remote control, they do have a timer function that allows them to turn on for 5 hours and then shut off automatically for 19 hours.

These flameless taper candles come in classic ivory as well as a variety of colors for a more contemporary style.

As with all Luminara candles, they come nicely boxed for easy gift-giving.

Another of my favorite flameless candle styles is this hand-poured Luminara wax pillar wrapped in genuine birch bark.

Luminara Realistic Flameless Candle (4" x 5") Wrapped with Real Birch Bark - Moving Flame LED Light- Unscented

Every time I see one in a store I am tempted to add one to our collection. We bought one as a gift for my mother-in-law this Christmas and she loves it!

This is available in a selection of sizes including 3.5" x 4.5", 3.5" x 6.5", 4" x 5" and 4" x 7".

Just one of these is striking enough to make a statement in any room. Investing in a group of them in different sizes would make a real conversation-piece display!

The on/off switch on the bottom also has a timer setting.

Although this beautiful birch pillar doesn't come with a remote, it is compatible with Luminara's on/off remote, sold separately, which is well worth the extra money, in my opinion. We use our Luminara remotes all the time.

Color-Changing Flameless Candles

One of the best gifts I ever gave my husband was a set of three color-changing wax flameless candles. I prefer white Christmas lights and he prefers colored ones, and it was a big concession for him to go with white icicle lights along our roof and on our Christmas tree. So, one year I decided to give him a form of colored lights we both could enjoy: color-changing flameless candles.

These turned out to be an even bigger hit than I had hoped. I took a video of ours to show the color-changing effect, which was hard to capture on video and is MUCH prettier in person. (If you can't see the YouTube video below, you can access it via this link to my color-changing flameless candles video.)

In real life, the color changes are smooth and seamless, and the unsightly flickering of the image caused by the low-resolution video doesn't exist. I wish I could show just how beautiful these are in person!

The candles have an on/off switch and a remote control that allows you not only to turn the candles on and off but also to choose from a wide range of different colors or rotate through the colors, as shown in the video.

There is also a timer feature, which we use to automatically turn on the candles in our bedroom at dusk and turn off either 4 or 8 hours later, depending on the time of year (and how late dusk arrives).

The brand I purchased a couple of years ago is no longer available. However, I found a similar set with a subtle, elegant, tone-on-tone damask pattern in the wax shell that makes them even prettier, in my opinion.

If you want to splurge, Luminara also makes lovely color-changing pillars.

Don't Forget Batteries!

Whether you're buying these for yourself or as a gift, make sure to also buy the appropriate batteries for your candles and, if applicable, the remote control.

The set of three Luminara pillar candles, the smaller Luminara birch pillars, and the Luminara tapers take AA batteries. The larger Luminara birch pillars take D batteries. The remote takes a CR2025 button battery.

The three candles in the set of color-changing pillars I featured all run on AA batteries.

Beauty, long life, safety, and convenience — just some of the reasons to treat yourself and those on your gift list to some genuine wax flameless candles!

Genuine Wax Flameless Candles — An Elegant Gift Everyone Will Love by Margaret Schindel

Thursday, November 23, 2023

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported the Review This Blog over the past year. We, the writers of Review This, truly appreciate you and wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving Day.

My Photography

One of the things I am very thankful for is my hobby of photography, so today I thought I would share with you some of the photographs I have taken over the past year.

This photo was taken at my backyard birdbath where a Robin stopped for a drink on a cool November morning. Birds are one of my favorite things to photograph.

Here us a hummingbird that I photographed at a feeder in my backyard.

I love to visit local parks and photograph all of the beautiful wildflowers that are growing there.

The photo above was taken at a local park where I went for an outing. The colorful boats on the shoreline caught my eye.

The bandstand in the photo below stands in Forest Park in St. Louis where I took my granddaughters to see a musical at the Muny Opera.

Sometimes I only need to go into my own yard to capture the beauty in nature. The raindrops on these Pink Primrose make a pretty photo.

Sunflowers are always a favorite photograph of mine. I visited a local sunflower field several times this summer.

I will leave you with several fall photos from my neighborhood. Fall is my favorite time of the year.

May You and Your Family Enjoy the Beauty this Season has to Offer. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

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Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Celebrate Halloweens Links To Nature Reviewed.

Happy Halloween!! Wishing everyone a fun and happy time! Halloween can be a fun celebration for those who participate.

On the very cusp of saying goodbye to summer and hello to winter time it is an important time in the calendar.

Today we find many ways to celebrate this season and the Halloween festival. We decorate our homes with orange and black, spiders and ghosts and ghouls, or a display of gorgeous squashes outside the front door. We might go trick or treating with young children dressed in amazing inventive fancy dress or go to parties dressed in Halloween costumes.

Some of us buy decorations for our homes, others craft their own and some even become family traditions. Even if you don't decorate or do anything yourself it can be fun driving or walking around the neighbourhood looking at all the inventive decoration. It is a festival that everyone can be involved in if they wish.

Nature Relating to Halloween, Festival Of Samhain

With all this going on I was reflecting on the origins of Halloween and how it relates and links to nature. Halloween has a strong connection to nature through its ancient origins and the season of this celebration.

Halloween developed from the ancient Celtic pagan festival of Samhain pronounced sow win. This festival has deep roots in nature and marks the point of transition between summer and winter or from the new life, growth, light and warmth of the summer time to the lower light levels , slowing down of plants and leaf loss, darkness and colder days throughout the winter months. So this festival marked the change of seasons as seen in nature and the constant rhythm of life and death.

During Samhain, and as the nights drew in and became much colder, people would naturally gather around warm bonfires. These fires symbolised the warmth and light of the sun and of course provided physical warmth so crucial in the cold nights. In addition they were a spiritual beacon, with the belief that they were guiding the spirits of the departed back to the Otherworld.

People believed at this time of year that the barriers between this world and the other world were broken down and that meant the living could interact with the other world more easily.

To disguise themselves they dressed as monsters and various animals so that the fairies would ignore them and thus avoid being kidnapped to the other world.

The costumes worn by people during Samhain often included elements of nature such as leaves, animal skins, or masks made from a range of already harvested crops from the fields. In this history, we can see the origins of where our current costumes enjoyed at Halloween may have originated.

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Gathering Crops And The Pumpkin

The close connection between the time of Halloween and the harvest season reflects the importance of nature and its crucial link to our lives.

This time of year is traditionally associated with the gathering of crops in from the fields. This is undertaken in order to have food to sustain us and stave off hunger during the long cold winter time, with a good crop ensuring our wellbeing in the worst harsh winter months.

It is also important to prepare our homes and gardens for the cold sometimes harsh winter months and for us to adjust from the long easier summer days and warmth to the often harsher, colder and darker winter.

Pumpkins are a prominent symbol of Halloween frequently used as decoration inside and outside our homes, with talented artistic carvings, fun lighted carvings and sometimes competitions. In addition delicious Pumpkin recipes abound at this time of year.

Pumpkins and squashes represent the bountiful harvest and the abundance provided by nature. I love to see the pumpkins and squashes growing in the fields and they are satisfying and wonderful to eat. Originally turnips were used filled with coal for displays but this later switched to pumpkins.

I really enjoy seeing all the amazing carvings and abundant displays in homes and gardens at this time of year. It certainly brightens up the often dull, low light afternoons and evenings.

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Overall, Halloween's origins in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain and its association with the changing seasons and harvest demonstrate its innate connection to nature and the natural rhythms of life.

This is just a brief look at the ancient festival and its relation to nature and how we celebrate today. There is certainly much more to its fascinating history, but here is just a glimpse of how it relates to nature.

So enjoy and celebrate Halloween and this change of the seasons and spare a thought for our ancestors with their beliefs and connections to the natural world.

Large Orange Red Pumpkin with Ridged Skin

Here are amazing and fascinating articles about Halloween from recipes to decor and more written by the talented contributors on Review This Reviews

Halloween Articles By Contributors On Review This Reviews

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Friday, October 13, 2023

Remember Sunday (2013) Movie Review

Most often, I watch movies in the background while I work. I guess you could say, they keep me company. However, Remember Sunday is not a background movie. This is one you really want to be invested in. It is well worth watching.

The actors are adorable and kind. You pull for them throughout the movie because you really want them to succeed. They both possess a positive attitude and strong determination as they face difficult times and situations.

Since I have never known anyone who survived an aneurysm, I wasn't sure how accurate the movie's presentation of it was until I did a bit of research. I found that, in some causes, the memory loss after an aneurysm was accurately depicted in the movie. This knowledge made me like the movie even more. Not only was I captivated by the story, but I learned something.

I will warn you, the movie is not all sunshine and flowers. As you can imagine, not being able to remember someone, conversations, activities, etc. would make you, and everyone that is a constant in your life, struggle for consistency or the bond of a continuous relationship. Shared experiences are the foundation of almost any relationship, even the bad ones. Without those memories, it would be nearly impossible to have a bound.

Synopsis of Remember Sunday

Remember Sunday

Gus Gillenwater (Zachary Levi) wakes up every morning to post-it notes! Yes, that is correct. He has post-it notes all over his home and a file marked "Read Me Every Morning". The notes and file tell him where he is and what he is supposed to remember. After he reads through the file, he calls his sister each morning and she tells him, again, why he is living in New Orleans and answers any questions he has. He works at a jewelry shop owned by old friends.

Gus's notes, file, and daily routine are extremely important because Gus has no short-term memory due to an aneurysm.

He is kind, even tempered, and happy, but he is living day to day without the memories of most of his adult life. He tries to "fill in the gaps" by recording the things he would like to remember, like appointments, things he needs to do, and whatever he thinks is important in his day. He is surrounded by friends and neighbors who try to daily help him.

Gus meets his life-long friend, Jerry, for breakfast each morning. On the day when we first meet Gus, he will be meeting Jerry at a new restaurant, Addie Mae's, for breakfast. He is immediately attracted to his waitress, Molly. Sadly, he will not remember her tomorrow.

____

Molly Branford (Alexis Bledel) is a waitress at Addie Mae's Restaurant. She is living with her best friend since she can't afford an apartment on her own. She is also taking a business class. She hopes to start her own flower shop when she receives the inheritance that is currently being held up by lawyers.

Molly is adorable, sweet, and well liked although frequently underappreciated by the men she dates.

When she meets Gus, of course she likes him, but she can't understand why he would stand her up for their date.

Fortunately for both of them, Jerry knew about the date. When he calls to see how things are going, he finds out Gus is at home, totally oblivious to the fact that he is supposed to be out on his first date with Molly.

___

After the initial mix-up, Molly and Gus do start dating, but their dating life is fraught with misunderstandings, difficulties and distress until Molly learns more about Gus's aneurysm and why he can't remember.

Gus, himself, questions "is it possible to fall in love with someone every single day?"

Remember Sunday on Prime Video

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Remember Sunday on DVD

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Friday, October 6, 2023

His Disinclined Bride by Jennie Goutet Reviewed

"His Disinclined Bride" is the 7th book in the Seasons of Change historical romance series.

I have really enjoyed reading this series. I have read books in the past written by several of the contributing authors to this collection. A few of the authors are on my "favorite authors" list and I know when I see their names, that I can look forward to an excellent read before I even start the book.

Over the last year, Jennie Goutet has quickly become one of those trusted authors. Her books are always exceptional and unique. "His Disinclined Bride" is no exception and I admit, I really wanted to read it sooner, but I waited so I could read the books in the series in order.

It is absolutely not necessary to read this series in order, or to even read all of them. Therefore, I recommend that, if you enjoy a historical romance novel, you will want to grab this one immediately.

I have always thought how uncertain and scary it would be to have parents arrange a marriage to a complete stranger based on social status. I have always been grateful that I was not born in an era where women were treated as possessions and "given" to a groom they did not choose or even want.

Jennie Goutet opened another door in this social paradigm for me in "His Disinclined Bride" when the marriage arrangement fell to the oldest brother because their father was deceased. I have read lots of books and seen many movies when the brother was the head of the family and had to give permission to court, but I don't ever remember a plot where the brother made a marriage arrangement for his sister without her knowledge and to a complete stranger. As I read though the book, I couldn't help but consider how a young woman would feel when thrown into this situation without any input or choice. Where she was simply told that she would be getting married within a month and that she should be grateful.

His Disinclined Bride

Katherine "Kitty" Stokes was quite content living in her brother's home with him, his wife, their children and her younger brother. She was quite close to her youngest brother and doted on her niece and nephews. However, her serenity was shattered the day her brother informed her that she would be marrying Lord Hayworth in a month and would move to his estate several hours away.

His Disinclined BrideCheck PriceLord Phineas Hayworth was tired of living under his father's thumb, helping to manage his estates. When it came to choosing a wife, he did not want his parents dictating the choice. Because his maternal grandmother had left him her estate, he wanted to marry, move to that estate, and take control of his own life. He would continue to help his father with the other property, but he needed the distance from his parents that the Giddenhall estate offered. He didn't know anyone he wished to marry so he told his man of business to investigate potential brides and make a business arrangement for him. Phineas needed money to restore and maintain the Giddenhall estate in Castle Combe. A bride's dowry would be the perfect way to obtain a large amount of money quickly.

Erasmus Stokes was thrilled with the opportunity to buy an alliance with a future Earl. He was willing to pay a high price for such an arrangement. He knew his association with a high standing member of the peerage would advance his business. His shipping company was already extremely successful and he was admired by other businessmen, but he wanted to be able to claim family ties with Lord Hayworth.

Stokes and Hayworth entered into an agreement before Kitty even knew there was any consideration of such an arrangement that would dictate the rest of her life. When she objected, her brother made it perfectly clear that she would do as he said, and that she should be grateful for such an arrangement. After all, he could have chosen to send her out to be a governess or a companion. As far as he was concerned, this arrangement served all three of them well.

Kitty was considered an inadequate, perhaps unrefined, bride choice by Lord Hayworth's parents and the peerage. Even the servants of Giddenhall did not treat her with the respect due to Lady Hayworth (her new title by marriage). Plus, the stable manager considered himself her equal and pursued her for a romantic relationship.

How would she ever find happiness again? You will have to read the book to find out!