A Sweet Story
December has been an exciting month for The Notebook Cafe and our sweet shop Millie McKeever's Vintage & Home Decor. It has brought our small candle company, The Fifth Street Candle Collection, full circle and back home.
When I was growing up on 5th Street in Highland Park in Des Moines, every November my mom made candles. She would spend weeks pouring paraffin and decorating her unique one-of-a-kind candles. She then hosted an Open House to sell her beautifully handcrafted candles. The ladies of Highland Park, as well as around Des Moines, loved this annual sale. These yearly candle sales provided my parents the money to buy Christmas gifts for me and my sister.
In my book ‘Heart of a Warrior’ I share the stories of faith and hope growing up in Highland Park. Based on the book, two years ago, with the expert assistance of a local candlemaker, who is a fragrance genus, we started The 5th Street Candle Collection. Our candlemaker took family recipes and created unique one-of-a-kind candles. We now have 10 candle fragrances. The candles have the recipe the candle was created for and the candle story devotion hanging on a simple brown card stock tag. Candles from The 5th Street Candle Collection are now all over the United States, sharing the flame of hope and faith that originated in Highland Park on 5th Street.
Something local and large happened this December. The iconic Cha Cha's Highland Bakery began selling signed copies of our book ‘Heart of a Warrior’ and The 5th Street Candle Collection candle ‘Christmas on 5th Street’. Each candle has a family photo on the front. The 'Christmas on 5th Street Candle' is me and my Dad’s photo from Christmas 1964 at the house on 5th Street. A lot of thought and work goes into our candles. Each candle is created using pure soy and is hand poured. It has always been important that we use all American made products in our candles. Each candle is a high-quality artisan product made locally.
When I was growing up on 5th Street in Highland Park in Des Moines, every November my mom made candles. She would spend weeks pouring paraffin and decorating her unique one-of-a-kind candles. She then hosted an Open House to sell her beautifully handcrafted candles. The ladies of Highland Park, as well as around Des Moines, loved this annual sale. These yearly candle sales provided my parents the money to buy Christmas gifts for me and my sister.
In my book ‘Heart of a Warrior’ I share the stories of faith and hope growing up in Highland Park. Based on the book, two years ago, with the expert assistance of a local candlemaker, who is a fragrance genus, we started The 5th Street Candle Collection. Our candlemaker took family recipes and created unique one-of-a-kind candles. We now have 10 candle fragrances. The candles have the recipe the candle was created for and the candle story devotion hanging on a simple brown card stock tag. Candles from The 5th Street Candle Collection are now all over the United States, sharing the flame of hope and faith that originated in Highland Park on 5th Street.
Something local and large happened this December. The iconic Cha Cha's Highland Bakery began selling signed copies of our book ‘Heart of a Warrior’ and The 5th Street Candle Collection candle ‘Christmas on 5th Street’. Each candle has a family photo on the front. The 'Christmas on 5th Street Candle' is me and my Dad’s photo from Christmas 1964 at the house on 5th Street. A lot of thought and work goes into our candles. Each candle is created using pure soy and is hand poured. It has always been important that we use all American made products in our candles. Each candle is a high-quality artisan product made locally.
Pictured Shelly Thompson with Cha Cha, owner of Cha Cha's Highland Bakery.
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For the FIRST TIME our candles are available locally in the Des Moines area, where they originated in Highland Park.
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The iconic Cha Cha's Highland Bakery is the perfect place to enjoy delicious bakery products and coffee.
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Everything is delicious!
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You'll find donuts and SO much more!
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My heart is SO full and thankful to Ed and Cha Cha, owners of Cha Cha's Hiland Bakery, for allowing the candles to return home, full circle from where they were initially created years ago by my mom on 5th Street.
In an effort to make sure all of the amazing bakery products at Cha Cha's Highland Bakery tasted amazing...I bought several baked goods there! Each item was wonderful, but the champagne donut was PHENOMENAL...as were the pumpkin bars, gingerbread cookie, and butter cream cookies.
With a grateful heart…the candles are finally home.
Plan your visit to Cha Cha's Highland Bakery located at 4335, NW 6th Drive, Des Moines. There's plenty of room for you and your friends to sit, relax, enjoy delicious coffee and all kinds of exceptional bakery items!
Click here for the link to Cha Cha's Highland Bakery Facebook Page.
In an effort to make sure all of the amazing bakery products at Cha Cha's Highland Bakery tasted amazing...I bought several baked goods there! Each item was wonderful, but the champagne donut was PHENOMENAL...as were the pumpkin bars, gingerbread cookie, and butter cream cookies.
With a grateful heart…the candles are finally home.
Plan your visit to Cha Cha's Highland Bakery located at 4335, NW 6th Drive, Des Moines. There's plenty of room for you and your friends to sit, relax, enjoy delicious coffee and all kinds of exceptional bakery items!
Click here for the link to Cha Cha's Highland Bakery Facebook Page.