Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, it was a dark and stormy night. So dark and stormy, in fact, the power had gone out, and you had naught but a handful of scented three-wick candles with which to light your way. As you crept down the darkened hallway of the cabin in the woods along the picturesque shores of Crystal Lake that you and your randy teenage friends rented from the eerily helpful maintenance man back at the abandoned service station with all the weird pelts hanging outside, you caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of your eye. Whirling madly about, you brandished your glass jar of Pumpkin Cupcake Crunch, set to square off against any number of undead, masked killers with nothing but the three-wick in your hand and your own blazing moxie. Then, with a chuckle of embarrassed relief, you realized it was just your lucky Chucky Doll figurine – must have fallen off the shelf when that puzzle doodad covered in all the bizarre symbols you found in the basement behind the walled-up root cellar tipped over. Pressing a hand to your fluttering heart, you shook your head as you contemplated the massive, flammable waxcident that nearly was – heavens, THAT certainly could have been messy!
And then THAT’S when one of your friends came banging through the swinging door of the kitchen, catching you square in the back, throwing you forward and the candle up, and out, and then eventually down, where it exploded in a geyser of molten wax, covering everything in the livingroom with burnt orange pumpkin spice, including the creepy two-way mirror and the snarling wolf head affixed to the wall. Congratulations; now you’re really in a horror movie!
Oh, we’ve all been there, and not just waxies, but anyone who enjoys a hobby that occasionally errs towards the messy and dangerous (jest not, glitter glue burns are a real thing!) So this month, in honour of Halloween, we’re taking a look at our most monstrous pastime nightmares – the waxcidents and beauty blunders and crafting calamities that haunt our hobby dreams. What’s the worst hobby hazard you’ve ever suffered? And do you have any magical tips for cleaning Pumpkin Cupcake Crunch out of carpet fibers (or wolf fur)?
To put it bluntly, years ago, my husband and I did not exactly have our acts together. Both of our jobs were stressful and time consuming, and we each spent about three hours on public transportation every day simply trying to get to and from our jobs. By the time we’d straggle in the door in the evenings, there was barely anything left in the tank with regards to socialization or non-cheese-based nutrition or basic maintenance of our home. We were just beat, and it was really starting to show itself, not just in our expanding waistlines and Netflix backlog, but around our apartment, which was beginning to take on the air of an 850 square foot, dust-covered storage space. We “lost” one of the cats one day; turns out she was just napping under some abandoned construction materials.
All that to say I wasn’t particularly surprised the day my husband, carrying a fully-liquid glass jar of some pumpkin-based scented candle from the livingroom to the front door, tripped over the detritus of our lives, hurling the entirety of the candle directly into the coat closet doors, where it rapidly solidified into a burnt orange waterfall stretched out over about two and a half vertical feet. Sweet.
Okay, so rust-coloured pumpkin shit happens, that’s life. But as some sort of testament to our “Everything’s crap; I’m out!” approach to life, we NEVER cleaned it up. Not then, in the moments after the waxcident, and certainly not over the next TWO YEARS. So every person who came to our door – the only way in and out of our home – got a gigantic eyeful of what looked like burnt orange vomit running down our cupboard doors. Our friends are such kind people; they never uttered a peep about their neglectful friends. We eventually just replaced the doors altogether (you’ll also be glad to know we ditched a number of the bad and stressful habits that were dragging us down, and life is – knock on wood – much calmer now. Cleaner, too.) But, you know, as is always the case, that friggin’ candle mess smelled amazing for YEARS. Talk about throwing power (and I don’t just mean my husband’s overhand lob!)
Today, in honour of the now-upon-us haunting season, I’m finally breaking into this clamshell of The Rumpkin, a lavender-pumpkin blend from Moo Scents. I’ve been saving this sweet and delicious herb and spice blend for ages now because of the spooky label, with that adorable little witch alighting off the cupola roof. Also because Moo Scents is regrettably no longer in business, so when she’s done, she’s done. What a great scent, though. Pumpkin and lavender, who knew?
If you have a story to share about the worst hobby-related catastrophe you’ve ever suffered, please leave a cringe-worthy comment in the section below! And we hope you’ll visit these Band of Bloggers blogs and help support the blogger community.
Amanda at Thrifty Polished
Jaybird at The Candle Enthusiast
Julie at The Redolent Mermaid
Lauren at LoloLovesScents
Liz at Furianne
Sandra – me! – at Finger Candy
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Finger Candy 
Glad you got your eventual acts together but if it makes ya feel any bit better, I think we all have a symbolic burnt orange dried mess clinging to a door somewhere in our lives. My husband and I have more than one.
I regret not getting to try MooScents, but I will mix up some lavender pumpkin on my own. White pumpkin lilac is one of my favorite fall scents, I still have some from one of my first vendor purchases. I think I’ll melt it soon, thanks for the reminder.
Ha, symbolic burnt orange dried mess – that could really describe so many of one’s woes.
Yeah, the Moo Scents thing was a bummer – they only did two releases, but I was super impressed with my first (and only) order.
I know that pain all too well. There was one apartment that had a forever waxident on a set of blinds that we just couldn’t get ourselves to clean up. It was orange, too. Why is it always orange?
I think I’m going to have to try out some pumpkin and lavender. I like them by themselves, but like you said, who knew?
They’re always orange! Or some orange variant. Although, would purple or turquoise really be that much better? It’s still wax on your doors you haven’t cleaned off in two years!
Turning over a new leaf is pretty sweet. Glad that mess is out of your lives both literally and figuratively.
AND RUMPKIN!!!! I am trying to hold out for Halloween week for that precious. Happy to hear you like it! Best label ever.
And I hope you enjoy yours – it was decent. Didn’t have the greatest staying power? I do love that wax, though – the kind of matte dust (?) on top forms neat shapes when it cools.