Old Book Smell is Wonderful

[this blog post to be edited & finished later] 

 
One of my favorite scents of all time is old books. In part because books symbolize my love of knowledge, and in part because I worked in rare books and archives for a while (was graduate work focus), and because libraries have often been my happy place.

-- smell with memory and some of mine
-- feelings evoked
-- chemical compounds
-- link to history

UPCOMING: Comparing Book Scented Candles

If you have a favorite book or library scented candle, let me know! So that I can include it in the final blog post comparing results.

The Phillpian Star for the Nativity Fast

Such a beautiful tradition! It comes from the Slavic cultures and Eastern Europe, and is popular with many Eastern Christians. Similar to the Western tradition of Advent, the Nativity Fast (or The Phillipian Fast, or Philipovka/Filipovka) is the 40 day count-down that is marked by fasting, prayers and readings, and increasing light from the Phillipian Star: the beautiful candle holder in the center of it all. In this post I'll show you four styles my family has had, and how to use them.

In short: it is a six-sided candle holder in the form of a star, often the Star of David. A candle is lit each week of the Nativity Fast until you get to Christmas Eve and then the center candle is also lit. This evening light service is often accompanied by scripture readings, or a Jesse Tree, or some ritual that celebrates the story of this liturgical season.

This was our first Phillipian Star given to us by my eldest's godmother. I believe the men's group at the church made them as part of a workshop project with the children. It's wooden and holds standard size taper candles. You can see where the paint is worn from where I melted & chipped away the dripped wax. We put red candles at all the points of the star, and a gold or specially decorated candle in the center. Some people have many different colored candles with a theme to each week (more about that below). You can also make your own wooden taper candle holder easily; detailed how-to here. 

This one is not a candle holder at all. I sewed it for my little kids to do themselves without concern for fire. It's also space-saving since it hangs on the wall and doesn't take up precious counter or table top. The felt triangles and center circle (which used to have a golden design on it) adhere to the spots with velcro, and the little pocket at the bottom holds the unused pieces It folds up easily for storage till next year.

This one is pretty unique. It was made as a gift by the Sunday School/ECF teacher at church for the kids' families. Instead of a Star of David shape, it is a wooden board with an iconographic star shape painted on it with a Nativity icon in the center. The candles (either wax or battery operated) are set right on top, and each colored candle has it's own week's theme:
week 1: green, faith
week 2: blue, hope
week 3: yellow, love
week 4: white. peace
week 5: purple, repentance
week 6: red, communion
center candle: golden for the Incarnation

Here is another wall-hung example. You can see the details and instructions for this incredibly easy and affordable project here. Made from a place-mat and ribbon, it uses battery operated tea lights. I appreciate it so much since we have a small house and usable space is at a premium. I can leave it on and not be overly concerned about fire-curious children.


Your observance and use of your Phillipian Star can be as complicated or as simple as you want. The fullness of what this tradition can offer is beautiful! but only if it doesn't stress you out.
Sometimes, I can't add one more thing to the to-do list. In the years where a new child was welcomed, holidays (and life in general) got simplified a lot. We've just lit the candles, drank a warm beverage (hot cider, tea, hot chocolate), and the kids did a coloring page from the Nativity story while I read or sang something related. Other years, I made a pocket wall calendar that had an icon for every saint for every day, and also had a piece of paper with an activity suggestion on it.

Some additional links for further web-searching:
activity workbook:  https://ucymb.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/pilipivka-workbook.pdf
guide for phillip's fast for families: https://ucymb.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/st-philips-plan.pdf
ideas for the fast: http://www.sttheophanacademy.com/2011/11/living-nativity-fast.html
about in general: http://antiochian.org/nativity/pre-feast
excerpts of reflections by Thomas Hopko: http://puluka.com/home/liturgy/winter-pascha-reflections-on-phillipian-fast/

Making a Vertical, Wall-Hung Phillipian Star for the Advent Fast

In the Eastern Christian tradition we have a six week fast right before Christmas. This Advent time fast is called the Phillipian Fast, or Phillipo Fast or Philopovka, because it starts on St Phillip's feast day, Nov 14th. One of the ways we mark this time is through a candle holder in the shape of a six sided star. A new candle is lit each week, and the special candle in the middle is for Christmas Eve and maybe Christmas day.  Some traditions have a different color candle for each week with a matching quality to meditate on that week, and others have all red candles for the weeks and a gold one in the center. There are lovely readings and prayer services that you can do along with your family during this time and at the lighting of the candles.

In past years, we've a style of candle holder made of wood it holds lovely tapers and makes a striking centerpiece. Nothing compares to the warm, focusing glow of candlelight.  One of my more recently mobile children has not figured out candle etiquette, and altho' we didn't have difficulties with our older children around matches and fire, this little one makes having flame about a problem. We all seven of us live in a very small house (less than 1000sqft of living space), so space is at a premium, especially on the only table.

A friend came up with the thought of having a Phillipian Star that hung on the wall. What a great idea! But how? and wouldn't the flames of the candles on the bottom melt the candles above extra quickly? And how, and of what materials, could you make a wall scone in that shape that wasn't a fire hazard? More importantly, how could I do it with the skills I already have and on a budget?

I mulled it over for a while, and then it came to me: fake candles! Those battery operated candles, some needle and thread, some glue and materials and *voila* easy-peasy. As I went I modified it to be even easier! and I didn't need to whip out a lot of tools, and it took only 20 minutes to make. Even better: I got everything at the dollar store. Yup, you read that right -- super effective & cheap project. 

tools needed: round place-mat, ribbons, hand sewing needle and thread, scissors, glue, battery t

ealight candles

1) The ribbon was glued onto the round place-mat with fabric glue. It took a little math to get the geometry and placement right, and you do need to allow time for the glue to dry. We did some book reading & kitchen cleaning while it dried.

2) I measured ribbon to go around the side of the tealights to make a loop, careful to singe/melt the edges on a real candle (best anti-fray ever). At first I glued the loops together, but it took too much time, Simple tacking them with a needle & thread by hand was much faster.

the loops of ribbon around the tealights are tacked on only at the top so that it can be lifted to turn the candle on & off

3) Sew on the loops in place at the points of the star by just a few stitches only at the top so that the loops hang down. The faux candles are light-weight and not creating a lot of tension/pull so it doesn't take much. This way, too, it's easy to slide them into the loops (or replace them later as need be), and easy to get to the little stitches to turn them on or off.

4)  I used a staple gun to attach it right to the wall. I also added a bit of left over gold glitter paint to the ribbon lines that make the star and to the center candle. Done! and out of the reach of little hands, no fire-hazard, and still visually striking.

the finished product!

We use ours with six red candles around the edged and a golden one in the middle. The tealights themselves are white, so I made the colors by the ribbons, You could also paint the tops of the tealights if you want -- they take paint remarkably well.  I found some tealights that had red glitter on them like little peppermint candies, so I got some of those for the red candle spots after Thanksgiving for the weeks of December -- because glitter makes everything better *wink*.

A Crayon as an Emergency Candle? Yes!

There is an image going around a few popular networking sites that states you can use a wax coloring crayon as a candle/light source if need be, and it will burn for thirty minutes.  This is a curious idea, and definitely worth a trial.  These pictures are from a friend who did the experiment:

It was a bit tricky getting it lit, but once it was it produced a large, clean flame.

 

Seen the left after burning for five minutes, and on the right after burning for ten minutes. Note how the paper wrapper acts as the wick.

On the left at 15-ish minutes, and on the right at twenty minutes, close to the end.

At twenty two minutes the flame gave out. The black that is left is just a thin shell of ash.

This was done with Crayola brand crayons. I am curious if other brands might burn differently. This worked so well, one might consider getting their crayons blessed at the Feast of the Presentation in February. Or maybe not (but I think it's a fun idea).   

Make an Inexpensive Waldorf Birthday Candle Ring

There is a lot to love about Waldorf inspired birthday traditions. No matter how you decide to modify and adjust things to your family needs, the focus is on an important life in your growing family and relationships. Even the focus of the table is not the cake, and certainly not the presents. The below idea & technique could be easily adapted for any kind of count-down celebration, too, like Advent or the Nativity Fast.

I really like the use of a candle ring, a circle or spiral candle holder with places for the age number of candles, and you can decide the fill the rest of the spots or not to your liking and needs.  I have seen beautiful examples of these, and many handcrafted wood ones that are well worth buying, but outside of my budget. So I decided to make one that was within my budget and skill set.


I got this wooden, blank 11.5" clock face from Michael's (also available at Hancock Fabrics), and some wooden candle cups at Hobby Lobby. (Note: those stores give a teacher discount, so don't forget your homeschool teacher id card)

I decided on candle cups that would take a standard size taper, which in the US is 7/8", because it will always be easy for me to find candles in the future. I would have preferred something smaller, but I'm trying to make this easy on myself. I used stain, sealer, and scraps of sandpaper I had left over from other projects, so the cost for the new supplies (wood pieces and wood glue) was about $13.

Many people will drill the candle holes right into the ring, but I opted to just glue wooden handle holders right on. I chose a wood glue that would accept stain just in case it became messy (which it usually does).

I started by marking my circle in quarters, then pencilled a rough idea of the center circle to cut out. I used my rotozip to do the cutting, and I am comfortable with the lines not being perfect -- in fact, I think it adds to the charm.

Then we took the cut pieces in and sanded them. In general, I have found there's always at least one kiddo who wants to help with the sanding, maybe more. It is so important to model and share making things by hand with your children. The center piece got sanded and added to the wood building blocks/toys.

The next part was staining it. I thought about all kinds of color schemes and ideas that would be fun, but in the end I decided to stain and seal it with things I had on hand. Reminder to self: keep it simple & fast & doable.  Note: to save time I just dipped the pieces right into the stain and then wiped off the excess. Although this did work, and was fast, it took way longer to dry than if I had just rubbed the stain on with a cloth. Then, I just glued the candle cups in place and let it dry. 

Ta da! I'm actually quite proud of the finished project, and I expect it will contribute to many celebrations in the coming years. It took less than an hour of my actual time (not counting letting things dry and set in between steps). I love how it can be arranged in many different shapes/configurations.


(It was suggested that this would make a great project as a candle holder for the various feasts and fasts of the year, especially the Nativity/Christmas Fast, or Phillips/Phillipo Fast. Simply put on the number of candle holders you need.)