Hideaway Candle Bar a chic addition to Waynesburg’s downtown
Visitors to Hideaway Candle Bar choose their vessel and up to three scents, and concoct their very own candle aroma at the copper bar. Hideaway also offers DIY room sprays, aroma beads and wax melts.
Victorian votives are trending at Hideaway Candle Bar in Waynesburg. Guests choose their vessel, mix and match up to three scents and concoct their very own aroma before owner Sarah Eddy turns the smells into a burnable candle.
Katherine Mansfield
More than 90 scents are available for mixing and matching at Hideaway Candle Bar, including Fruit Loops, which smells like childhood. In addition to year-round offerings, Eddy said seasonal scents like pumpkin will be available to Hideaway candle makers.
Hideaway Candle Bar is in a way an extension of Sarah Eddy鈥檚 day job: Teaching. Eddy, a math teacher at Central Green School District, enjoys guiding visitors through the aroma-creating process at her DIY candle bar in Waynesburg. (Photos by Katherine Mansfield)
Katherine Mansfield
A wall filled with more than 90 scents to choose from is either exciting - many Hideaway Candle Bar visitors smell them all - or intimidating. Eddy offers customers a binder filled with scents-piration, and candle makers are welcome to use the combos in that book if they can鈥檛 quite settle on up to three scents themselves.
Katherine Mansfield
Part of the fun of making one鈥檚 own candle is choosing the vessel in which that candle will burn brightly.
When Sarah Eddy walked into the space that鈥檚 now home to Hideaway Candle Bar, she envisioned a swanky speakeasy. The DIY candle and aroma storefront has a speakeasy鈥檚 gold accents, but oversized Chesterfield couches, wispy floral arrangements and modern artwork add a cozy touch to the historic ground-level hangout. (Photos by Katherine Mansfield)
Katherine Mansfield
Sarah Eddy has hand-poured for years and sells her ornate, ready-to-burn candles at Hideaway Candle Bar. Those who drop into the lovely space to craft their own candles have the option of adding color and glitter to their creations.
Sarah Eddy has been hand-pouring candles for years. Recently, she opened Hideaway Candle Bar in Waynesburg, where folks are invited to create their own scents or purchase a premade candle crafted by the shop鈥檚 owner.
Visitors to Hideaway Candle Bar are invited to create their own scent, or drop in for premade candles, wax melts and aroma beads handcrafted by owner Sarah Eddy.
Katherine Mansfield
Hideaway Candle Bar offers plenty of seating for groups to hang out, enjoy BYOB and snacks and chat while their scents are turned into mouth-watering candles, wax melts, room sprays or aroma beads.
Katherine Mansfield
Hideaway Candle Bar is tucked away along South Morgan Street, on the ground level of what was once the Waynesburg Hotel and Lounge. The DIY candle shop opened in June and has been well-received by the community.
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A sweet-smelling space decorated in dark blues and shades of gold is tucked away on the ground level of what was once the Waynesburg Hotel and Lounge.
Hideaway Candle Bar opened June 9 along South Morgan Street, and offers locals and out-of-towners alike a dreamy space in which to break bread (accompanied, perhaps, by meats and cheeses, charcuterie style), lounge and create custom candle scents.
鈥淚鈥檓 from Waynesburg. I love this town,鈥� said Sarah Eddy, the Central Greene High School math teacher who owns Hideaway Candle Bar. 鈥淭his place needs things to do.鈥�
Eddy is a doer with a knack for crafts and entrepreneurship. For years, Eddy has handcrafted candles, which she gifts the hard-to-shop-for people in her life. Years ago, she started casually selling her wares to friends and acquaintances.
Last year, around the holidays, Eddy dusted off her candle-making materials and got to hand-pouring.
While picking up her son Finn Cyprowski from school, one of Eddy鈥檚 candles caught a fellow mom鈥檚 eye.
鈥淪he was like, 鈥極h, can you make me some?'鈥� Eddy recalled. 鈥淚鈥檓 like yeah, sure. One thing led to another and I had so many people that wanted (candles). I ended up making like 500 of them at Christmastime. And then I did another round for Valentine鈥檚 Day. I did another round for Mother鈥檚 Day.鈥�
The sales were a hit, and Eddy smelled a future in candles.
鈥淭he idea of a candle bar came to me,鈥� she said, noting similar businesses exist elsewhere, but there鈥檚 nothing like Hideaway in Greene County.
Eddy dreamed up the business name and logo before she began location scouting. She and her husband, Nick Eddy, visited a handful of available storefronts, but they didn鈥檛 quite fit the schoolteacher鈥檚 vision.
鈥淢y husband was like, whatever you want to do, I鈥檒l support you. I鈥檓 like, I don鈥檛 want to do it in just a random place. I wanted to find, like, a cool place.鈥�
In January, Eddy toured a property owned by judge and family friend Farley Toothman. Toothman had revamped much of the ground-level space along South Morgan. Eddy stepped inside, onto black and white checkered floors and fell in love at first sight with the wrap-around bar and street-level windows.
She and her husband spent a few months transforming the space鈥檚 beautiful bones into an elegant hangout. Nick leveled the bar, and the couple added a copper surface to the candle-making area (a nod to Hideaway鈥檚 original ceiling, now a bright white).
鈥淚 bought the two couches before I bought anything else. I love this style of furniture and I love the velvet, but it would never work in my house,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y mom actually found this wallpaper, and then everything else just kind of followed suit as far as the artwork and the whole look. I guess it ended up not being speakeasy, more like glam.鈥�
Glam, indeed. The Edison light fixtures, marble countertop and wispy floral arrangements offer guests a relaxed, creative atmosphere. Already, Eddy has welcomed return customers, and she loves guiding first-time visitors through the scent-making process.
鈥淎 lot of people will come in with like an idea of what they want, and I鈥檒l guide them. But some people are clueless. No matter what I鈥檓 doing, I feel like I鈥檓 always coming back to teaching in some way,鈥� Eddy smiled. 鈥淚t is important to me to be a teacher, and sitting here and teaching people how to make a candle that have never made a candle, it鈥檚 nice.鈥�
Folks are welcome to bring snacks and beverages, including wine, seltzers and beer. Along with candles, guests can create their own aroma beads, wax melt and room sprays. Creators choose up to three smells from the scent wall, take a seat at the bar and make magic.
Magic includes adding a splash of color to wax and dusting candles with glitter.
Eddy takes reservations and welcomes drop ins, and folks are encouraged to spend time lounging on the velvet Chesterfield couches while they wait for a turn at the mixing bar or for their scents to be transformed into room fresheners.
鈥淭he atmosphere that I wanted 鈥� was just like a super calming, relaxing kind of just place you could hang out. People need that because we鈥檙e always so busy,鈥� Eddy said.
Hideaway is certainly inviting, and the vibe changes depending on who鈥檚 creating.
鈥淚 had a Girl Scout troop come in with 12 second-graders, so the atmosphere was like very electric and alive,鈥� Eddy said. 鈥淚 had one group come in for a bachelorette party and they brought food and wine and they hung out. That was more like a relaxed kind of thing.鈥�
When school back in session, Hideaway will continue serving the community, including Waynesburg University students looking for weekend entertainment.
鈥淚t brings people together. So many customers have said it鈥檚 so nice to have something different to do. I think that鈥檚 just what people are looking for: They want some kind of entertainment, but at the same time, it鈥檚 their personal creation,鈥� Eddy said. 鈥淚 always tell people like, make yourself at home, take as much time as you need. And I鈥檝e had people already come back multiple times, so that鈥檚 good. That鈥檚 always the best possible compliment, return customers.鈥�