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Bells Box Collective ✨ Clean Candle Classes ✨ Lake Norman NC

@bellsboxcollective

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LKN’s Pink Candle Bar 💕 Toxin-free soy candle workshops + private events. Bachelorette, girls nights + team building near Charlotte. Walk-ins welcome!

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The balloons may be popped and the night may be over, but Thursday night is going to be forever imprinted deep on my heart 💖

I never scribbled out some big dream on a napkin. I didn’t know what this could become. over the last nine years, I just kept showing up, kept building, kept growing, one day at a time to get to where we are. But I didn’t do it alone!

When I gave my speech Thursday night, I looked out into that crowd and I saw every bit of the last nine years standing right in front of me. I saw the late nights pouring candles. I saw pre-candle Cory, back when this was crafting and hustling and figuring it out one project at a time. I saw the friends who cheered me on through the hard days, as a business owner still finding her footing, as a mom on this whole winding journey of becoming one. I saw my girls that show up to help along side me. I saw the people who shared our story, who shared our space with their own friends and family, who showed up for me again and again 🥹

My community is the real hero of our little pink story… I just get the front row seat, which is the best seat in the house, watching you show up not just for me and for each other, and I love that more than I could ever put into words!

150+ of you filled our little corner of Oakhurst on Thursday. My cheeks still hurt from smiling. My heart is still so full it’s spilling over. Every hug, every memory shared, I felt every bit of it in my soul and I am just so incredibly grateful!

We are just getting started, and I could not be more grateful to be doing this life alongside this community, right here in this little corner of Lake Norman I love so much! I remember when I first moved here I felt like there needed to be brighter more creative space for people and I feel like in the last decade I’ve watched not only our little spot grow into that but also so much more of Lake Norman! I feel like together we are one pretty magical vibrant community around these parts! And I’m so grateful to be a part of it! I love you all so much 💖💖💖 taken in Cornelius, North Carolina by @bellsboxcollective

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3 months ago

If you had told me nine years ago that I’d be a candle maker… like an actual, professional, shirt-wearing, studio-owning candle maker… I would have laughed in your face. Like, sweetly, but still. Hard pass.

And yet here we are!

Sometimes the thing that was never on your bingo card turns out to be your whole entire calling. And I think that’s one of the most wonderful things that can happen to an entrepreneur. You take a leap on something that makes zero logical sense on paper, and suddenly (or a decade later lol) everything you didn’t know you were looking for just clicks into place.

This week is my last week in our OG studio where all of this started. Where I poured my very first candle, taught my very first class, brought Jax to when he was a week old, ugly cried a few times (growth is not always cute), and somehow built something from nothing that I am so incredibly proud of. Nine years of memories in these walls and yall I feel every single one of them right now.

But here’s what I also feel…

SO ready. Because we are moving into something new and bigger and more amazing than anything I could have dreamed up when this whole thing began.

I’m Cory, founder of Bells Box Collective, a toxin-free pink candle bar right here in Cornelius, NC. We pour candles, we teach you to pour yours, and we have built the most incredible community of people who just love creating something beautiful together.

If you’re new here, hi! Welcome! Pull up a chair because it is about to get really good around here.

So let’s go…New studio. New chapter. Same girl who never saw any of this coming and is so grateful she didn’t.

XOXO Cory

📸 @laurenselbyphotography taken in Cornelius, North Carolina by @bellsboxcollective

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5 months ago

Welp…we got the keys!

may 1st will officially always be locked in my memory as the day that jax and i walked into the new studio for the very first time with keys in our hands. i sat down on the floor in the dust and i popped a bottle of champagne while trying to film a little video. and from across the room my boy starts chanting….chug it. chug it. chug it. 🤣🤣

i completely lost it laughing. and then i completely lost it crying.

because this is the second biggest day in the history of Bells Box Collective. the first was the day i opened our little doors in 2017. and this is that moment all over again except now i have nine years of love and lessons and late nights behind me and an entire village cheering me on.

jason. jax. my mom. my sister. my in-laws. my girls. my friends….every single person in my life has shown up for this in a way i cannot put into words. the support and the cheering has been so amazingly overwhelming it sits in my chest like the best kind of ache!

bells box 2.0. our pink studio. a whole new chapter for us! and we are so completely, totally, already obsessed with our new space!

may…you are going to be one for the books ✨ taken in Lake Norman by @bellsboxcollective

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5 months ago

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24 days ago

We lit the candles. We drank the bubbly. We bedazzled basically everything in sight.

And now Candles for Candidates are officially available online. 🕯️✨

Meet the collection:
🔥 Good Trouble
🦎 The Salamander
✨ Keep It Lit
♀️ The Matriarchy

Our launch party sold out of every candle we had poured for the night — and now Bells Box Collective is pouring more.

Four candles. Four stories. One very sparkly collaboration.

And even better: Candles for Candidates orders ship FREE with two-day shipping.

Shop the limited-run collection at the link in bio. by @bellsboxcollective

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a month ago

You guys! I am so honored to be among the SIXTY amazing women business owners and leaders in the lake Norman area to be nominated for this!

When I left the corporate world it was in large part because there were no female leaders. No community of people that lifted each other up and understood that a rising tide lifts all boats in the world I came from. It was every woman fighting for her own seat at the table instead of building a bigger table.

And then I started @bellsboxcollective, and I found exactly what I was missing. An entire network of women right here in Lake Norman who are building businesses, raising families, and showing up for each other every single day. Women who celebrate your win like it’s theirs. Women who will hand you a client, a connection, a piece of advice, or just a “you’ve got this” exactly when you need it. I don’t think that is something that you find just anywhere!

This ballot is sixty of those women. Sixty stories of what happens when women stop competing and start championing each other instead. And getting to stand among them, as one more voice saying our community is stronger when we lift each other up, is such an amazing feeling!

Voting for the 2026 She Means Business LKN Award, hosted by @locallifemagazine at The Lumen House, opens Monday, September 21st and runs through October 9th. It is completely free at thelocallifemag.com.

Vote for me. Vote for someone else on that list. Better yet, go read all sixty stories and see just how much talent and heart is sitting right here in our own backyard. That is the real win in all of this 🩷

This community of women is everything to me and a big part of what lights me up daily. Thank you for being part of it!!

XOXO Cory taken in Lake Norman by @bellsboxcollective

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a month ago

Last week we hosted the launch party for Candles for Candidates at Bells Box Collective.

We sold out of every candle we had poured for the evening and we raised more than $800 for the @cantwinvictoryfund 🙌🏻 We watched people read the stories behind our candles…The Matriarchy, Keep It Lit, Good Trouble, and The Salamander, then talk about the ways politics touches real life, and choose the candle that they connected with.

And I am still thinking about it 🩷

Not just because it was a great night. Y’all it so was!! It was a full pink studio, a lot of people who showed up with open hearts, and a reminder that community can be both joyful and meaningful at the same time. We bedazzled candles about democracy and making sure we are making our world better for our children that are inheriting what is next and you guys…I did not know how much I needed that evening until I was standing in the middle of it.

I know this is a little different from the things we usually talk about here…But if I truly believe that everyone deserves a seat at this little table of mine then I have to also believe that everyone deserves a voice that counts. I cannot build a community around belonging and then stay quiet about the things that threaten it! And when have I ever had the ability to stay quiet 🤩

I am so proud of what the @cantwinvictoryfund and I have created and I am even more excited to share that our limited candle collection is available online now if one of the stories feels like yours! Because we are just getting started and it feels good to help make a difference. Head over to the link in our bio to shop and order yours 🥰

PS ✨ if you want to know the full story behind why this small business of mine chose to show up for this…. because believe me speaking up about things when you’re a small business can be a little bit terrifying …I wrote a little blog post over on my website about it. It is straight from my heart and I think you might appreciate it even if we see some things differently!

XOXO Cory taken in North Carolina by @bellsboxcollective

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a month ago

Sometimes I feel a little bad that I don’t post more pictures of our pretty candles and products!!! As a small business owner I think a lot about my why. The real reason behind this small business of mine …what lights me up inside, and here’s the truth, mixing scent combinations and creating new products for you to bring into your home is SO much fun.! Yes, Check, check, check. It’s awesome!

But the thing that wakes me up with a fire in my soul? Knowing what we actually make at the studio.

We have been cooking with gas for the last three months in our sweet new space (it’s weird to not type out ‘sweet little space’ anymore?!) and every single day the thing that gets me out of bed excited is not the wax or the wicks…it is the people!!

It is the friend groups who walk in as guests and leave like they have known each other for years. It is the moms and daughters pouring side by side, making a tradition without even realizing that is what they are doing. It is little hands (tiny, careful, so proud of themselves) learning what it means to make something with clean ingredients. It is my team, who show up and turn a candle bar into a family. It is the whole crowd standing outside our door on opening day, believing in something and sharing in every single step of building something in our town 🥹

So yes, I love our candles, and one day I will be better about posting more of them and our home line too (promise!!!) But today, this little heart of mine just wants you to see what we actually make here.

And here’s the thing, this holiday season is about to be the most magical one yet. We have private workshops filling up, Candle Corners for your small circle, and so many ways to gather the people you love around our long table. If you have been waiting for a reason to come see the studio, or to bring your people together, or to make a memory instead of just buying a gift, this is it. We want you there!

#lknmoms #cornelius #lakenorman #candlebar taken in Lake Norman by @bellsboxcollective

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a month ago

✨✨ We are HIRING! ✨✨

The pink studio is growing and we are looking for a warm, positive self-starter who loves people, notices what needs to be done, and wants to be part of a genuinely special team. Oh, and that has a hot nose!! Our culture matters a lot to us, and we are proud to have an incredible team with very low turnover. This is a hands-on, guest-facing role helping with candle-pouring workshops, scent guidance, guest experience, checkout, restocking, candle cards, and studio reset.

One big note! This is a nights-and-weekends role. Regular availability for Thursday and Friday evenings, Saturday daytime and evening, and Sunday daytime is a must. A typical Saturday shift is four to five hours, and some weeknight or Sunday assist shifts are shorter.

This is a paid, competitive position with the opportunity to earn tips after training as team members grow into teaching their own classes. It is an especially great fit for a teacher looking for additional hours, a college student, or someone who wants a fun, people-centered role alongside a strong team. We are especially interested in applicants who are 18+.

If this sounds like you or someone you know, we would love to meet you!!! The link for our application is in our bio and in our stories! taken in Cornelius, North Carolina by @bellsboxcollective

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2 months ago

Ok ok!!! These little ladies just walked into the pink studio SIX months after I ordered them, and yall I am a tiny bit obsessed! 🫒

I can’t help it, I fall in love with every single container that comes through this candle bar, but these pink cuties might be my favorite yet! One might even say “Olive you…sweet little new containers!” 😂

Fine…my jokes are bad but it doesn’t take away from the fact that these little containers brought me immense joy the second I opened them!! And picking out our containers that go and live their best lives in your homes is one of my favorite parts of this gig! 🤩 and it is also why I am absolutely zero help whenever anyone asked for help choosing between options ….!! I love them all!

So here’s the deal! We only got a handful in and they will be gone before we know it. Come see them in person and snag one for yourself this weekend! Walks in welcome 🤗

Friday Nights 5-8
Saturdays 11-8
Sundays 1-4 taken in Bells Box Collective by @bellsboxcollective

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2 months ago

When I tell you I was absolutely bawling my eyes out watching Wonka the other night with Jax… well ok that probably doesn’t come as a surprise because y’all know I’m a teeny tiny bit emotional 😂

But there was something in that “come with me and you’ll see” scene that I connected with in a way I never expected. I suddenly understood what that movie was actually about.

2017 found me craving community and connection, a place where I could feel creative again instead of just tired. So I built one. And for nine years I grew into that space…one night, one workshop, one regular turned friend at a time. You make it work. You tuck things where they fit, not where they should be, because you don’t know yet what “it” even is.

And then two months ago we moved into our new studio. Walking in this past April with a blank floor plan, I finally knew what “it” was. Room for champagne and charcuterie boards big enough to make a Tuesday feel like a celebration. Corners to tuck yourself into with your best friend. Every detail intentional, because for nine years I’d been retrofitting magic into a space that wasn’t built to hold it.

That’s what I saw sitting there with Jax. Not a guy who wanted to sell chocolate. A person who built a whole world just so other people could step into it and feel something. Nine years ago that was me with a dream and no words for it. And now I’ve got the space I was dreaming of the whole time!

Mother-daughter dates. Date nights. Bridal parties, birthday celebrations, bachelorette parties, girls’ nights spilling into the parking lot laughing. We did all of it before. And we are doing it now, in a space finally built for it!

So come with me and you’ll see 🩷

XOXO Cory

#lknmoms #lkn #candlemaker by @bellsboxcollective

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2 months ago

Soooo here’s the thing about me. I can see what I want 10 steps ahead of what’s in front of me. And then I get excited and I jump head first into making it happen. Take this little corner of our new spot!!!

I could see EXACTLY what I wanted the second Jax and I sat down on that dusty floor may 1st. Seriously the visions of a gorgeous apothecary style display for all of our scents with the makery hanging over an arched door, drenched in pink, lived rent free in my head and your girl HAD TO HAVE IT.

And then I ever was so kindly reminded that at your girl also has a small business budget (emphasis on SMALL 😂😝) and what I actually wanted didn’t exist in the world!

But here’s the thing - you know that I am not going to let a little thing like a…gasp…budget stop me!! I am going to figure out how to make it come to life! It only took 2 months of Jason having to walk around it in our sawdust covered garage but i can officially say I’m obsessed!

Not only is it cute and holds most of our scents (I have one more tweak to make it hold the rest!) but I always love when Jason and Jax and I finish a project! Now not only do I have this sweet little spot that looks extra cute in the studio and is hella functional, but I get to look at it and think about laying on the dirty ground measuring and cutting tiny strips of trim over and over with Jason on a hot summer night, laughing our heads off…or Jax at “work camp” 😆 helping me paint and put the final touches on it!

Being a small business owner might come with a lot of obstacles and not the life for everyone but man oh man, it sure is a fun journey for me over here 🩷

What do you think?!! Do you love it as much as me?! taken in Cornelius, North Carolina by @bellsboxcollective

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2 months ago