2012 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

The Way Lakewood Candle Companyended Up Onthe

shelves of the Dallas Museum of Art store is “a perfect East Dallas kind of story,” says Alison Silliman. She’s the museum store’s general manager and also its buyer, and she lives in Vickery Place.

Silliman’s home was on the Vickery Place centennial home tour, and Lakewood Candles burned inside each house as tour-goers walked through. So when the museum began gearing up for its current Posters of Paris exhibit and was on the hunt for corresponding local products, Silliman thought of Lakewood Candle Company.

She tracked down its owner, Old East Dallas resident Wendy Millsap, and their conversations led to a limited edition collection of candles, each one emblazoned with a Paris poster and matched with “scents that make sense,” Silliman says.

into candle

Her involved ladling wax from a pot on her stove to create Christmas gifts.

It was a fitting culmination, especially since Millsap launched her business on the home tour circuit — Junius Heights, Swiss Avenue and Munger Place are among the others for whom Millsap has designed commemorative candles.

Her first foray into candle making involved ladling wax from a pot on her stove to create Christmas gifts. Millsap still hand-pours her candles (not with soup ladles, of course), and about a year ago, she quit her sales job to pursue candle-making full-time.

Neighborhood wine bar Times Ten Cellars sells Millsap’s candles, as do Random boutique in Hillside Village and Talulah Belle in the Lakewood shopping center. Talulah Belle owner Elizabeth Mast, who just opened home design store Hess next door, also is working

Wendy Millsap, Lakewood Candle Company

Gift idea: Bonnie and Clyde candle, the most popular scent and Millsap’s favorite, too Price range: $15-$36 at retail stores, $5.50 and up for custom orders

Where to find it: Random, Talulah Belle, Times Ten Cellars, Dallas Museum of Art, lakewoodcandlecompany.com with Millsap to create a private label Hess candle, expected in first quarter 2013. Another of her private labels is being shipped to places such as Amsterdam and Hong Kong for a company so big that we’re not yet allowed to mention the partnership in print.

All of these candles are made in Millsap’s prairie-style home.

Kara Fletcher, Studio Design Lab

Gift idea: Embroidered initial pillows

Price range: $49-$64

Where to find it: studiodesignlab.com

KARA FLETCHER WORKED FOR INTERIOR DESIGN FIRMS for years until she was laid off in January 2010. The industry hadn’t been doing well, and it came as no big surprise to her.

“It was my turn,” she says of the layoff.

So she decided to try sewing, and she pulled out her mom’s old sewing machine on which she and her sister had learned when they were kids. The 40-year-old Singer only frustrated her. So she decided to buy a new machine. And what she bought, basically, is a Bentley.

The Swiss-made Bernina 830 has a touch screen and does many tricks, including computerized embroidery. Only 4,000 of them were made, and they cost about as much as a good used car. But the machine allows Fletcher to create any design she can imagine.

It’s not just about having the right tool; it’s about knowing how to use it, she says. That sewing machine and Fletcher’s creative mind are the basis of her Studio Design Lab.

She started out making complicated designs, such as her “dragon pillow,” inspired by business trips to China. But when she took them to shows, such as the Urban Street Bazaar in Oak Cliff, buyers were more interested in simpler designs, especially the initial pillows.

Now she sells about 100 of those a year, many of them custom to order. She uses ecofriendly bamboo felt or recycled felt whenever possible. Clients often send her swatches for inspiration, and she will send fabric swatches so clients can be sure the color and texture is just right. Neighborhood clients can save on shipping and meet Fletcher to pick up their pillows or have them delivered by UPS.

Jennifer Blumenstock, Three Bishops

Gift idea: natureinspired necklaces

Price range: $125-$300

Where to find it: threebishops.com, Talulah Belle, Gemma Collection, Blueprint, Hemline, Susan Saffron Jewelry