Tomorrow is the first day of Candletime, a holiday with no consumer, religious, pseudo-religious, or familial obligations.

I invented Candletime three years ago as a buffer between Halloween and Thanksgiving so no one has to allow Christmas to sneak into that space. (I, personally, like to celebrate Candletime while also prepping for Advent and Christmas.) It’s a “holiday” everyone can celebrate and feel good about celebrating.

The rules are simple:

1. Candletime runs from November 1 through the night before American Thanksgiving (November 23 this year).

2. To celebrate, when you come home in the evening, light as many candles as you’d like to to make your living space feel sparkly and cozy.

3. Take some time to sit and enjoy the candles, and enjoy a beverage of your choice, such as hot cocoa, wine, beer, cider, mulled wine, hot cider, tea, coffee, Irish coffee, Bailey’s, or milk.

4. Relax.

Who’s in? We start tomorrow night, but you can jump in whenever you’re ready.

Comments

  1. ACJ says:

    I like this so much. Last year, I called it Advent Advent. I’m going to practice the quietness more this year, and save the real Advent prep work for the week after your Thanksgiving and the first of December. Thank you for the reminder.

  2. We are so in! and the we extend the invitation to anyone coming by… if our candles are lit come on in (to chaos) and we will sit down and chill for a visit!

  3. HereWeGoAJen says:

    Oooh, I love this. We are going to have to do it.

  4. Wilhelmina says:

    We’re in too. The clocks went back yesterday in the UK, but we’re still unseasonably warm in London. So it’s on with the candles by 5PM. Totally dark out by then.

    My daughter now nearly 4 is really enjoying choosing different candles this year, and loved seeing the honey bee exhibition so lots of beeswax candles in the drawer for Candletime.

  5. Kathy_B says:

    I am starting Candle Time tonight! I won’t get any trick-or-treaters so I might as well get a jump on things. Also, I was not able to enjoy Candle Time last year; I was getting ready to move, so every night after work, I was packing! No time to relax. Now that I’m all settled in, I can ENJOY!

  6. Julia says:

    Thanks for the reminder!

  7. Melissa says:

    This is a wonderful idea, time to buy some more candles!

  8. Heather Bell says:

    Sounds wonderful! belles-bazaar-heather.blogspot.com

  9. Karen says:

    We dragged our jack-o-lanterns inside to kick it off!

  10. Started with you! Love this idea!Hugs, Bobbi Jo and Happy Candle time!

  11. Hillary says:

    I LOVE IT!

  12. juliag says:

    Doing it! And our preschool has jumped on the Candle Time train too.

Trackbacks

  1. [...] three years ago as a buffer between Halloween and Thanksgiving so no one has to allow . . . (read the rest here.) GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); [...]

  2. [...] only thing that saved me from complete depression these last two years was Candletime, a holiday I made up that goes from November 1 through Thanksgiving and makes your house feel cozy. [...]

  3. [...] pumpkin bread and sip chai, and yes, I’ve started my Christmas shopping. I’ll celebrate Candletime, which seems like a holiday (albeit a made-up one) custom-made for me. And I will take my Vitamin D [...]

  4. [...] Are you ready for Candletime? If you’re feeling hermit-y like me with on this beginning-of-November day, check out this cool nightly ritual. (Thanks to Leah for letting me know about it!) [...]

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