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On Thursday, the LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce celebrated the opening of Scott Candle Co. in Downtown West Point.

The company began as a home business and is expanding to a small retail location. Jon and Renae Scott, a husband-and-wife team, began making self-care items in small batches in their home during their off time from their full-time jobs. The business was successful selling items online, so they are expanding.

“We’ve been doing this for almost five years out of our home. Everything came from my house, except for the furniture,” Renee joked.

Renee said she and her husband Jon had been working at Callaway Gardens when the pandemic turned things around and people stopped going out as much. She said she learned candlemaking as a hobby, but it quickly became a career opportunity..

“So COVID happened, we got laid off for a little while, so I needed something to do, and there was a video that popped up, and I couldn’t stop,” Renee said.

Now they have expanded well beyond candles, with handmade scented items of nearly every variety from soaps, sprays and scrubs to candles and lotions. They even have laundry detergents.

 Now that the couple has more space, they teach people how to make candles.

Groups can schedule creative candle-making sessions at Scott Candle Co. for friends and family gatherings, birthday parties or other special occasions. They will walk everyone through the process of creating their own custom candle to take home.

The sessions are two hours. Making the candles takes about 45 minutes to an hour and groups can use the rest of the time to socialize, eat, drink and wait for the candles to set.

“You come in, pick a scent, pick a jar, sit down, make a candle,” Renee said. You will be taught how to make a candle from the beginning to end.”

It’s a simple process. You melt the wax, you get it up to the right temperature, add the fragrance in, stir it, and then pour it into the candle jar, she said.

A candle-making session is $45 per person with a minimum of five guests, up to 16 guests per session. Everything needed to make a personalized candle is included (wax, wick, fragrance oil and the lesson).

Scott Candle Co. is located at 818 3rd Avenue in West Point, Georgia.

For more information, visit www.scottcandleco.com.