320 Sycamore Candles bring light, fragrance, and most importantly, minimal smoke into a room.
Jennifer Cahill, a single mom and sole provider for her family, started making candles three years ago to build a better life for her and her boys, Clark, sixteen, and Sawyer, thirteen. The family suffers from allergies and asthma, so Jennifer’s goal was to make her own cleaner burning candles with 100 percent pure cotton wicks to create less smoke and soot.
She also uses pure soy grown on American farms with no additives or preservatives and phthalate-free oils. The pure soy allows the candle to burn slower, which helps it last longer.
She opened her successful Etsy shop in 2017 and sells candles at local markets and shows near her home in Overland, a St. Louis suburb, with help from her boys. Candle-making is a full time job, so she works seven days a week and late nights to hand-pour eight- and sixteen-ounce candles in small batches of two to four candles. In addition, she also makes pure soy melts for wax warmers and lights.
“I hope I can show my boys that with hard work and determination, you can do anything you put your mind to,” Jennifer says.
She creates unique mixes of fresh and fun seasonal scents like Christmas Eve or Peppermint and Vanilla for winter and Southern Iced Tea, Capeside Cottage, and Summer Citrus for summer. Year-round favorites are Fresh Coffee, Lavender and Linen, and Eucalyptus and Spearmint.
Customers tell Jennifer her candle scents take them back to childhood memories or a special time or place in their lives.
Jennifer finds inspiration in nature’s fresh flowers, fruit, herbs, and other foods to create new scents, and she uses these things as well to photograph her products. Her mom and two sisters assist with testing new scents and naming new creations.
Visit Etsy: 320SycamoreCandles for more information or to order.
All photos by 320 Candles.
This article was orginally printed in the November/December 2019 issue of Missouri Life.
