Yankee Candle Village Trip

Just under two weeks ago we went to Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens and we just LOVED it!

What I didn't tell you all in that post was that we had originally planned our trip to head to the Yankee Candle Village shops and the butterfly conservatory was just a little side trip we took.  

We walked in the door at Yankee Candle and were immediately greeted with a map and a list of the day's specials.  Then we began walking around.  There are so many rooms to explore!  

The Yankee Candle Village is Yankee Candles Flagship store and they bring in thousands of visitors every year from all over the globe.  I'm really kicking myself for not taking a picture of the maps they have with pushpins showing all the visitors they get; it was so neat to see them!! 

I've been wanting to take a trip with my boys for a good year or so but really wanted to make sure to visit at Christmas time.  The store is filled with themed rooms, Christmas trees of all sorts and it really was a full day of fun. 

You can buy gifts, get pictures taken with Santa, and find lots of yummy treats for your tummy too.  We settled on some fudge and Ben & Jerry's ice cream for lunch but there was flavored popcorn, sandwiches, soups, chips and more too.

We sat and ate our lunch by the fountain and listened to a little animatronic stage show.

Then we headed off to explore their Christmas rooms.  We saw trees of all sorts and each picked our favorite.

Alec loved this baking tree with all the cute cupcake ornaments on it.

My favorite was this tree filled with white lights, glass and white ornaments and tons of sparkle.

You feel like you are walking through a village and there is even castle walls, a moat and a room where it snows!

The clock in the toy store counts down the time until Christmas.  Nearby the elves sing, dance, and packages move along tracks in the ceiling.

We spent a lot of time in a room that showcased all the different villages and village pieces they sell.


Evan LOVED this Christmas Story themed village complete with Ralphie fighting off the gang of bandit's he dreams about.

I had a hard time picking a favorite.  I loved the Mickey set, the Elf themed one, and the Christmas Vacation village.... I think if I had the room for it I'd set up a huge display with them all just like the store did!

Mickey Mouse themed village set 

Christmas Vacation set 

Elf set 

My boys loved this building in one of the other sets; the red candle bubbles and flickers. 

Once we had looked at the whole store;

• The man cave area with candles, ornaments, and gifts themed around beer, animals, and trucks
• The toy and candy stores
• The area where you can make your own candles!  
• The area where you can take a photo and personalize any glass jar candles
• All the ornament and tree rooms 
• The Candle emporium
• The general store (the original storefront they first opened)

We headed to the museum store in the back and were just in time to catch a demonstration on beeswax candle making.  Our presenter was so knowledgeable about candles and started way back in the day of the pilgrims; before honey bees were even in New England! 

the shop housed all sorts of old candle molds, stands, and tools. 

He explained that mulberry candles were made using mulberry seeds; how the process could take up to two days and most women could only make 4 or 5 candles out of that!  So they saved them for special occasions like New Year's Eve.

They then went on to make candles from mutton fat.  We learned all about the various wicks burned through the ages and how many candles a traditional family would need for one winter (usually 150- 250!).

We finally learned that 1 lb of honeycomb would yield 1-2 four inch candles (shown in the photo below)

Yep, all that honeycomb for that one candle (maybe 2 if you were lucky)

 We learned about molded candles versus dipped candles too and that this was strictly women's work for the home with the help of their children.  Everything from harvesting sticks to tie the wicks onto, to making the actual wick, boiling down the fat or wax, and dipping each and every candle.

It takes and hour to an hour and a half to get from the empty wick at the start of this tale to the fat finished candles hanging on the other end. 

 
The jar of bayberries with the candles they still make today.  Bayberries were boiled until the waxy coating on the berry separated from the berry then the wax would be strained (repeatedly), allowed to cool and harden, and boiled back down to make candles.  No wonder it took a few days!

By the time the demonstration ended we were getting pretty tired of walking around and decided to call it a day.  It was a whole lot of fun though and we were so glad we had made the trip to check it all out. 

Linking Up With: Wonderful Wednesdays, Over the Moon,