On a cold day or night, there is little better than snuggling up on the couch with a book and a warm drink. Sweet, spicy and o’ so comforting, chai is a favorite treat of mine during fall and winter. Unfortunately chai can be expensive, and chai tea lattes contain a lot of sugar (a Starbucks chai tea latte packs in 42 grams!). Luckily, recreating chai tea lattes at home is easy. Made with a combination of milk powder, spices and instant tea, this chocolate chai mix cuts back on the sugar content while saving money.
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Make it Month: #BrambleChai Mashup
So many fabulous photos have been entered into our Make it Month Contest and if you haven’t had a chance to submit your photos yet, remember that today is the last day! Just share your sample of the month (Chai Tea Cybilla Fragrance Oil) inspired bath and body product by posting a photo on Bramble Berry’s Facebook page with the hashtag #BrambleChai. Be sure to check back next week when we announce the featured photos from the Make it Month. Enjoy the ones already submitted!
Chai Tea Latte Candle Tutorial
For a quick and easy fall project that will fill a room with the scent of warm spicey Chai Tea, nothing beats this whipped candle tutorial using our Chai Tea Cybilla Fragrance Oil. As a bonus, all this month you’ll receive a free half ounce sample of Chai Tea with every Bramble Berry order. For this candle, we added straight Chai Tea fragrance oil, but we’ve got a number of fantastic blends to try here. Chai Tea Cybilla Fragrance Oil is a wonderfully warm and comforting scent that is sure to be a hit this season.
If you take photos of your project, be sure to share them with us on Bramble Berry’s Facebook Page with the hashtag “#BrambleChai” before October 30 for our Make It Month contest — check out the blog post for more details. You can also check out the Facebook album of submitted projects to get some inspiration. Happy candle-making!
What You’ll Need:
10.5 oz EcoSoya Advanced Wax
1 CK-16 Candle Wicks (or whatever size is appropriate for your cup)
1 Clear Glass Mug
1 Red Wax Dye Block
1 Orange Wax Dye Block
1 Black Wax Dye Block
7 mL Chai Tea Cybilla Fragrance Oil
2 mL Vanilla, Non-discoloring Fragrance Oil
Droppers
Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart!
ONE: Melt 8 oz. of EcoSoya Advanced Wax on 30 second bursts in the microwave. Color the wax with equal portions of Red, Orange, and Black Wax Dye Block (a cleanup tool works well for shaving bits off the block) and stir until the dye pieces are completely melted.
TWO: Add 7 mL Chai Tea fragrance oil.
THREE: Dribble a little bit of the wax into the bottom of the candle jar. Stick the metal disk of the wick into the wax and allow the wax to cool enough to hold the wick in place.
FOUR: Once the colored wax has cooled to 120 -130°F, pour the wax into the jars. Use pencils or chopsticks on the top of the candle jars to hold the wicks in place. Allow the wax to fully cool and harden overnight.
FIVE: Melt the rest of the EcoSoya Advanced Wax on 30 second bursts in the microwave. Add 2 mL non-discoloring Vanilla fragrance oil.
SIX: Using a hand-held mixer, whip the melted wax until it is thick enough to form slight peaks when manipulated with a spoon.
SEVEN: Moving quickly, spoon the whipped wax on top of the cooled candle. Allow the whipped wax to fully harden
Wait 4 – 5 hours for the wax to fully harden and then your delicious Chai Candle is ready to burn!
Clean Up Tip: I always melt some old melt and pour down in the microwave and allow the hot soap to melt the wax in the containers and my utensils. That’s the easiest way I’ve found to clean up after making candles. Do you have any tips? I’d love to hear them!
Holiday Cookie Bar Cold Process Tutorial
Holiday madness is officially upon us … well, it is if you’re a cold process soaper! I am always so inspired by all the wonderful treats and desserts that show up at yearly holiday parties, and we wanted to try and replicate a delectable holiday treat in soap form. This recipe was inspired by a lovely dessert I came across on Pinterest: soft, doughy cookies with ample fudge and swirled holiday frosting. Delish!
The goal with this soap is to get your layers as straight as possible by using a pour-over-the-spatula technique. We also incorporated the fragrance sample of the month, the delightfully warm Chai Tea Cybilla. It does discolor in cold process soap, which is something we kept in mind when formulating this recipe. In the end, we think the result is just as sweet as the original dessert inspiration!
Make It Month: Chai Tea Cybilla
As the leaves turn colors and the weather gets colder, there is nothing better than bundling up with a warm cup of Chai Tea. Throughout October, Bramble Berry orders will receive a complementary half-ounce bottle of Chai Tea Cybilla Fragrance Oil. To celebrate this sweet and spicy fragrance, we’re encouraging you to use the sample to create a unique bath & body product as part of our Make It Month.
This month’s Sample Page project features Chai Tea Cybilla. Take a look at the Sample page to learn how to make your own Chai Tea Candle.
Chai Tea Cybilla is a wonderfully warm and comforting drink that has welcoming, familiar scent. You can use it in everything from melt and pour soap, cold process soap and even our Sample of the Month project — a wonderfully whipped candle! With its traditional Earl Grey Tea base and sweet notes of Vanilla and Nutmeg , this delightful and spicy fragrance is fantastic in fall soaps.
Be aware that this fragrance will discolor, so take that into account when you’re formulating your cold process recipes. To learn more about how to use the fragrance’s natural discoloration to your advantage, check out this FAQ blog post, ‘Why did my soap turn brown?’
Ready to show off your Make it Month creation? Check out the full details and helpful tips below:
- Your project needs to utilize the Chai Tea Cybilla Fragrance Oil. Cold process, melt and pour, lotions, scrubs, home crafts and all other bath & body projects are all welcome.
- Post photos of your creations on Bramble Berry’s Facebook page between now (October 7th) and October 30th. Entries submitted after October 30th will not appear in Facebook album.
- Your entry MUST include the hashtag “#BrambleChai” in the photo caption. Without the hashtag #BrambleChai, your photo will not appear in our Facebook album (we use this hashtag to easily find the photos; the hashtag makes it possible for us to search for just those photos for the Make It Month).
- You can make multiple projects, but we will only consider three photos per person.
- We will post a collage of staff favorite projects on November 4th. We’ll base our choices on how unique and creative the item is.
- We encourage everyone to participate, from veterans to newbies! All photos submitted before the deadline that include the hashtag #BrambleChai will appear in a Facebook album on the Bramble Berry Page.
This is an excellent way to show off your creations, and it’s a great source of inspiration for your upcoming holiday projects. In the past, we’ve hosted Make it Months with a variety of themes, including 4th Of July, Oatmeal Milk and Honey Cybilla Fragrance Oil and creative packaging.
To give you a few ideas, here are a few photos from a recent Make It: 4th of July challenge:
We’ve given you the instructions, and now it’s up to you to start crafting, creating and soaping. We can’t wait to see what you’ll come up with!