About Us

    Illuminated Gifts began several years ago not as a business but as a family hobby. Like many people, we were tired of buying the same presents year after year for family members and friends. We were also looking for some unique home decorations after remodeling the living area of our home. After looking in store after store we decided to try our hand at making a few things ourselves. We have to admit, it was a lot harder and more time consuming than we ever imagined, but it was fun too.

    We started simple enough, or so we thought, by making a few candles. Several months (and hundreds of dollars) later, we actually produced the first candle we used to decorate our dining room. We never thought it would take that long, but, along the way, we learned more about different candle waxes, gels, wicks, scents, molds, containers, additives, embeds, burn times and so many other things that we never thought possible. In some cases it seemed it was more than we wanted to know. We've included a picture of that first candle because it's really where this all began.

    The most important thing we learned is that producing a quality product takes time. We spent hundreds of hours testing what seemed like hundreds of different ingredients before we were satisfied we had a candle that was unique, beautiful to look at and safe to burn.

    A few of our friends saw the candle and said they wanted one too. They also had other ideas on what they wanted "their" candle to look or smell like. So, we went back to more testing and more learning. Eventually we obtained a business license and had a number of different candles which we sold to our neighbors, co-workers and friends. The big jump to a real business came when we began participating in area craft fairs. We found out that there were many people who wanted the same things we had envisioned when we decided to make our first candle.

    While we still make and sell candles (including candles based on that first one we made just for us), we are now experimenting with handmade soaps, lotions, scrubs, and other personal care products. These are still several months away. We've learned that you must have a great product that you KNOW is properly made before you even attempt to sell it. So look for our expansion into this area in the future.

    We're also, planning to offer a few other handmade gift items in the future. Like the items we are now offering, these will be based on things we would like to have around our home. If you have any ideas please let us know. We can't guarantee we'll be able to make them, but we're always willing to listen.

Thank you for visiting our site.

The Illuminated Gifts Family