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SusanJ
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| Posted: Dec 17 2009 at 6:10pm | IP Logged
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What do you do when your first week of Advent taper burns all the way down late in the third week of Advent?
If all the candles were purple, I'd just rotate them all down and add another new one. But if I do that then the fourth week's candle is bigger than the rose candle. And that bugs me!
Any aesthetically-pleasing solutions? We've used pillars until this year and never had this problem before.
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JennGM
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| Posted: Dec 17 2009 at 6:47pm | IP Logged
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Always a problem with us, but I use some of the last year's partly burned candles (usually 2nd or 4th weeks). I know that's not much help.
4th week is supposed to be taller than the rose candle, so it would be fine to me.
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kingvozzo
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| Posted: Dec 17 2009 at 6:48pm | IP Logged
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My solution to this was to switch to tea lights. I painted clear glass votive holders, 3 purple, 1 rose. This is our second year with this system, and I really like it. No more searching for colored candles, or making do with white candles and colored ribbons.
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SusanJ
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| Posted: Dec 17 2009 at 6:53pm | IP Logged
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Oops, obviously the fourth week candle will be bigger  I meant that adding in a new candle would make the second week candle too big--or the first depending on where it was added.
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mary theresa
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| Posted: Dec 17 2009 at 7:06pm | IP Logged
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I get totally bugged by this kind of thing too.  Our 1st wk candle is a tiny nub, but I don't want to get last years leftovers out because they are a different shade of purple. . . but if I don't do something the wreath will get burned here soon. My husband doesn't understand my aesthically displeased problem.
Could you cut the bottom off of the current 4th week candle and rotate it down to the 2nd week and the 2nd to the 1st. That's great you have a new purple one to add. Wish I did!
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Dec 17 2009 at 7:29pm | IP Logged
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or just light the too big candle for a while seperate from the wreath until it's the "proper" height 
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SusanJ
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| Posted: Dec 17 2009 at 7:31pm | IP Logged
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I like the cutting idea except that the candles are already a little too small for the holders. I think I'll just burn the biggest candle while I work in the kitchen tonight.
Glad I'm not the only one! We have purple candles that would be the perfect height--but they are a different shade of purple.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Dec 17 2009 at 7:38pm | IP Logged
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If you need to get it a good ways down.. you can cut the top off and then burn to make it look properly.. just be very gentle so you can pull the wax off the wick and leave a long enough wick.
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: Dec 17 2009 at 7:42pm | IP Logged
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We just rotate and always burn the tallest purple candle(s) each time we light.
Or we use tealights (just depends on what I have on hand each year!).
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Maggie
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As an FYI...
We discovered a great trick that helps keep candles
1). Longer and 2). Virtually drip free.
Put them in the freezer at least 1 hour before you light them. It's pretty cool to see how nice and neat they stay...and how long they keep!
Hmmm...I should have posted that at the beginning of Advent. 
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SusanJ
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Does that work with all types of wax?
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Mary G
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See.... it's funny, but I don't mind the unevenness ... it shows where we've been and where we're heading! I have a problem when the same candle isn't lit for the week ... weird, huh?
My big thing is never knowing what to do with the partially burnt ones at the end. Here are two things we have done:
1. burn all the candles to the end during the day of Christmas eve up thru dinner and replace with all white ones for the Christmas octave after clean-up.
2. take the partially burnt and melt down ... strain out any ickies and remake for next year. This is great with beeswax!
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Maggie
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| Posted: Dec 18 2009 at 9:37am | IP Logged
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SusanJ wrote:
| Does that work with all types of wax? |
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It has worked for both the regular parafin wax candles from Michaels/Joann's...
And it has worked beautifully with our beeswax candles this year. 
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LucyP
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| Posted: Dec 18 2009 at 11:13am | IP Logged
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I keep beeswax candles in the fridge for the same reason. It works great. We are another family that went to tealights in decoupaged jars this year because I find uneven candles a few inches in front of my face at every meal a bit hard to cope with too.
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TxTrish
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I like them to be uneven, too.
It shows we have been lighting them and praying together each evening.
In the past I have had years where I could use the exact same candles the next year because they NEVER got lit. (I had a December baby that year)
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SusanJ
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Sorry--I wasn't clear. Of course our candles are uneven! We light them all through dinner each night so they look like stair steps--the first one is very short and the fourth tall and unlit. But since they are lit for 30-60 minutes each night (depending on how long dinner goes) the first taper doesn't last the full four weeks. So I need to somehow replace it. So, what bugs me is that the candles then aren't that stair-step pattern that shows our progression through Advent.
But I think I've got it figured out for this year and next year we'll try the freezer trick and maybe get that first taper to last long enough.
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melanie
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I'm glad I'm not the only one neurotic enough to be bothered by such things. We didn't even dig out our Advent wreath until week 2 because I had such a hard time finding candles. Then my dh thought I was nuts because I lit the first candle and burned it by itself for a while so it would be shorter than the others...
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LisaR
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Mary G wrote:
See.... it's funny, but I don't mind the unevenness ... it shows where we've been and where we're heading! I have a problem when the same candle isn't lit for the week ... weird, huh?
My big thing is never knowing what to do with the partially burnt ones at the end. Here are two things we have done:
1. burn all the candles to the end during the day of Christmas eve up thru dinner and replace with all white ones for the Christmas octave after clean-up.
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Ditto, Ditto, Ditto!!!
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JennGM
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I like the stair-step look. I'm like Mary G -- I don't want to see the candles lit before they are supposed to be lit!
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Jennifer G. Miller
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melanie
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ACK! I just realized I have no white candles yet! ...sheesh...another thing to add to my list. I'm glad I realized it before I went to the store for one last one last trip.
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: uneven Advent candles
