Handmade Holiday Gifts in Orange County

The holidays are commercial enough, right? Why not add some personal style, charm and heart to spark up your gifts this year?

Pure Light is the place; handmade candles are the goods. Plan a date night out and craft candles for family and friends, or take the kids and let them chunk away at blocks of wax to create ornament candles for teachers and grandparents. (And if you aren't feeling particularly crafty yourself, know that Pure Light has hundreds or existing candles to choose from: soy, paraffin, even amazing Candle Bouquets bursting with art that may blow your mind.)

It's really a one-of-a-kind place with Bali-style, gratitude sentiments and gorgeous home and gift décor.

You can personalize your candles for your special someone by choosing colors they might like, scents that suit them and add embellishments from seashells and aspiring tokens to wax animal and nature cutouts. After you get creative and masterfully craft your candle to your liking, you just hand it off to the kind Pure Light people who add in binding wax to seal it all together. Then they let it cool till ready.

You can expect to spend an hour or two there for the creative process, depending on the size of candle you make. Kids can opt for the smaller tree ornament candles that start around $8. And you might go for the holiday gusto with a large sphinx, oval, flower or square mold (these cost more, but burn far longer). Pricing is hard to pinpoint as it all depends on styles you choose and elements you add. You'll have over 35 sizes and shapes to pick from and endless ways to accessorize your wax work.

No appointments are necessary at the Pure Light candle studios. Just walk in and grab a table, a cutting board, your candle tools and get gift-busy. Both Pure Light candle studios are located in ideal locations to keep you occupied while your candles cool, too. The Laguna Beach location is next door to the House of Big Fish (yum), so grab a drink or bite and relax. Or hit The Spectrum (across from Brookstone and near Cheesecake Factory), where you can easily kill an hour doing just about anything.

Happy heartfelt candlemaking holidays. Won't your loved ones think you're so clever and crafty?

And at The Irvine Spectrum
71 Fortune Drive
Irvine, CA 92618

Debbie Lavdas is a SoCal writer who blogs at Debbie in the OC.